On the tenth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Ten intruders prowling,
Nine dancing trees,
Eight hours of therapy sessions,
Seven Brotherhood members shaking,
Six teachers on a hunt,
Five scary rounds,
Four students playing hooky,
Three musicians out of tune,
Two dancing lovebirds
And a Wolverine in a pear tree.

For some reason, Logan couldn't sleep. He groaned and rolled over in his bed. There had been nights like this ever since he arrived. He chalked it up many times to the nightmares from his past life. In other instances, his nocturnal sense picked up on things that were out of place. He couldn't tell which one it was and got up. A good walk and a cigar outside usually cured the annoying insomnia.

As soon as he exited his room, Logan realized that something was definitely off. He pressed himself against the wall and sniffed quietly, claws out and the want of a cigar forgotten. Yes, there was somebody – a bunch of them – inside the mansion. He concluded that he had better take care of them before morning. In the very least, Xavier would want the smallest mess possible. The kids did not need to see more blood, guts and gore than they already had.

The first one picked up was the easiest. Quickly, Logan noted him rounding the corner nearby with little gear – the recon. Silently, he made his way through the shadows and used another side hallway to ensure that he was behind. Without mercy, the claws went through the shoulders. Retracting them, Logan took advantage that the man was in shock and grabbed a fistful of hair. He slammed the head into a nearby wall, knocking his target unconscious.

Next, Logan dragged the body to a nearby elevator. When the doors opened, he threw it in and closed it. On second thought, he also locked the mechanism in place. It would be the perfect prison once he rounded up the rest of the sorry saps that dared to enter his domain.

When he turned to chase down the next one, he came face-to-face with Scott and Jean. Logan scowled. He wasn't used to working as a team and even despised Jean for being here. Worse, he hated Scott's leadership and always battled him every step of the way. On second thought, he wasn't too surprised to see Cyclops awake and in want of some action. It put a huge kink in his plans though.

"What's going on?" Scott hissed. He didn't want to wake up the rest of the children and teachers.

"We've got company," Logan confirmed.

Jean sighed. "Do we know who they are?"

"I honestly don't care," Logan said. "They're on our turf without permission. Doesn't matter where they came from, just as long as they're gone after tonight."

Scott cursed under his breath. "All right, let's split up," he decided.

Logan liked that idea. It was the first one Scott had that he conceded with without arguing. Scott actually waited for Logan's negative response too. He was amazed to hear none. He motioned to the elevator that Logan used as a prison.

"I think we can fit quite a number of people in there," he pointed out.

"What will we do with them after we catch them all?" Jean inquired.

"I think the Professor can decide that in the morning," Scott concluded.

Logan took this as a chance to leave. He did not have time for debates. Stalking off, he used scent to uncover the next person, near the youngest children's dorm rooms. It was difficult getting him away from picking the door lock, but he managed to use the man's side gun against him and knock him out. When Logan opened the elevator to stuff him in, there were three others in addition to the one he got.

Unexpectedly, Storm came up from behind Logan with a sixth. "Scott has two more and Jean one. They think there's one more person on the property."

Disgusted, Logan tossed the body in and said nothing to Storm as she too unloaded. If there was one more asshole in the mansion, he was going to be a sorry one. Logan walked away in search of this supposed prey. He didn't sense anything at first. Jean and Scott were downstairs and arguing over the best way to bring up their men without waking anybody else up. Storm had already gone in the opposite direction. Everybody else was sleeping.

Logan passed Jean and Scott downstairs and decided to call it a night. There wasn't anybody else here. However, as soon as he stepped outside for his cigar, he realized that Scott was right. There was somebody else on the land…and he was nearby.

It was tough picking up the location. Logan had to scout through the gardens, basketball court, soccer field and the copious dots of trees on the property to find the last man standing. He was sneaky, Logan had to admit. He had been keeping track of movements in the mansion by sitting in the darkest corner of the kids' tree house. He was speaking into a walkie-talkie by the time Logan quietly climbed up from the other side and was behind him.

Quickly, Logan put his foot against a back and shoved with the bottom of his bare skin. The results were satisfying, to say the least. The leader tumbled down in a screaming fit, somersaulting like a trapeze artist, and landed face first into the new snow. Logan saw some blood pool around his face and hair. He was still alive though and that was what mattered the most.

"Game over," he said, pulling out his cigar and lighting it. It was well deserved.