As always thanks for the new followers/favs and special shoutout to Cheshire and FeralHyena (welcome!). Cheshire ... yea papa Logan is always a good thing to see. Someone has to be out there watching out for Kara even if he needs a bit of help sometimes. FeralHyena appreciate the love and did my best to post a bit sooner then usual. Now enough with the fluff ... let's get to it ...

Finals were finally over. Kitty and Rogue had spent most of the last two nights in the library buried under their piles and piles of notes. They'd had to beg some energy drinks off of Jason just to keep going ... but they'd made it. Barely.

The pair had slept in late enough that they didn't even bother putting on real clothes and just pulled sweatpants and favorite hoodies over their pajamas to go grab whatever they could from breakfast.

"Wanna grab Kara?" Rogue mumbled out, still rubbing sleep from her eyes. The two roommates hadn't had much time with the feral since the campfire. It seemed Kara preferred studying alone in the woods or with Ororo. With a nod towards the feline's and Raven's room Kitty and Rogue headed down the hall to check in with their resident pantheress.

Kara liked this song. It was a good song. It wasn't even one Raven had chosen ... she'd found it herself on Raven's computer. The song ... spoke to her? Did music do that? The video playing with it was cool too. Kara was debating this with herself when she spun around to find Kitty and Rogue staring at her open mouthed in the doorway.

"What?" Kara rumbled as she pulled her headphones down - Raven's headache had gotten worse from last night and Kara hadn't wanted to bug her - as her tail slowly stilled from the heavy swaying a moment before settling down to a more casual pace.

"Were you ... dancin'?" Rogue was too tired to keep the shock out of her voice. She knew what she had just seen but ... it was still hard to process the typically quiet and well stoic Kara dancing in her room. It was just so ... normal. Did Kara do normal?

"No," Kara's ears went flat automatically, "maybe ... that bad?" Kara hadn't really realized what she was doing.

"Bad? No! But also are you… ARE YOU WEARING JEANS?" Kitty had taken a second longer to process what she was taking in. Her whisper shout, somehow making Kara's ears go even flatter as she looked down at herself, suddenly certain she'd made a mistake.

The person in the video had jeans… and sure the other kids wore jeans too. Like all the time. But the jeans the singer in the video were wearing … Kara really liked the claw marks they had and basically tried to replicate the effect on her own. Sure she was kinda hot but it was really cold outside so it wasn't too bad. She liked how her fur showed.

"I thought looked ... cool?" Kara ran her claws over the fur on her shoulder as she regretted her decision to try something ... Raven was always telling her to try stuff. Ororo too. Kitty and Rogue shared another surprised look but now they were smiling. OK she looked stupid. Knew it was stupid idea. She -

"Definitely cool." Kitty grinned as Rogue quickly agreed, Kara eyed their faces cautiously for a moment before her tail couldn't help but pick up speed only to stop as Raven let out a growl of her own about being woken up at an ungodly hour. There were some sheepish apologies, more grumbling but soon the foursome were headed eagerly downstairs.

There was a fair amount of tired students and teachers wandering around the mansion that morning. Kitty actually had to phase through Jean who muttered almost an apology and something about a migraine before they made it to the kitchen.

After piling up a plate with some waffles and donuts (post-finals meals were the best) they all headed for their preferred long table by the window. It was almost 11 so the sun was out shining over the few inches of snow on the ground.

"So what do we want to do today?" Mako asked the assembled group as they finished up.

"Snowball vight?" Kurt asked while Bolin quickly nodded in agreement.

"Can we stick inside today? How bout some movies?" Rogue countered, never one to love the cold. Kara noticed Logan walking out with Scott and gave a little nod as the two headed elsewhere.

The debate on what to do next continued but Kara had her focus on Raven who was sitting across from the pantheress with her head in her hands. She scented ... off.

"Raven OK?" Kara rumbled when a number of things happened very quickly but felt like slow motion to Kara.

"Jean!" Kara heard Scott yell as his girlfriend dropped to the floor somewhere on the stairs just outside the kitchen as two other telepaths collapsed without warning at other tables. Raven let out a groan as she slumped against Warren who almost flew out of his char as Raven practically fell into his lap.

Kara jumped to hear feet but her ears swiveled towards what sounded like an explosion from miles away.

Everything went dark as everyone looked around. Dr. McCoy came in and calmly explained the power would be back on soon before seeing Jean and quickly ran over to see what was wrong. Raven was groaning as she pushed away from a now very confused Warren.

"Wh - what's going on?" Kitty and a number of other students looked around in confusion. Kara however didn't move as her hackles slowly rose.

**CLICK**

Kara spun to face the forest just in time to see the bullet pierce the glass before the bang of the shot hit her ears.

"AHH!"

"ROGUE!" Kitty had been standing next to Kara and on instinct had gone incorporeal ... just as the bullet passed through her and struck Rogue, the force of the bullet sending the young teen sprawling across the kitchen.

"Everyone down!"

"We're under attack!"

"What's happening!?"

"Help!"

"KARA NO!"

Beast had been trying to get everyone to cover but was too late as he yelled out to the dark feral as the next sound of breaking glass didn't come from a bullet ... but from Kara crashing through the glass doors as she streaked towards the tree line on all fours, a black missile on the white snow.

Kara barely noted the rocket screaming a couple hundred yards to her left as it struck the school with a massive explosion. No students there ... the dorms were on the other side of the building and a story up.

Can't focus on that.

Her focus was on getting to the treeline. To the humans she knew were firing at her friends. Get there. Stop them.

She would protect her friends.

She'd promised.

Kara maneuvered quickly, changing her angles and rolling constantly in an effort to take as little damage as possible from the hail of bullets now coming at her.

Though if Kara had been able to pay closer attention she may have noticed how the line of fire was just above her as the torrent of lead slammed into the mansion, effectively pinning everyone inside. And inside things were not going well.

"COVER!"

It was madness. A war zone.

The senior X-Men had trained for years to fight in almost every conceivable scenario ... but even they weren't prepared for the hail of bullets hammering their home. Everyone was taking cover behind the flipped thick, wooden tables and the island.

Ororo was down. Beast was tending to Rouge and two other students he'd managed to carry to cover to the living room.

"We've got to get out there!" Scott yelled over the chaos having made it the kitchen once Hank took Jean.

"Where's Logan?!" Bobby screamed right back, shooting walls of ice without looking in an attempt to provide more cover. But the bullets just kept coming.

That's when Mako saw the missile.

"Scott incoming!"

But Scott wasn't the one to hear the warning.

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"

The kitchen was suddenly silent as a massive black and purple wall - no a ... a raven shot forward and standing over a story tall took the brunt of the explosion. The apparition only stood for a few moments ... until a dull hum proceeded the lights coming back on and a second later huge sheets of steel slammed down, covering all the doors and windows.

Kara was almost to her target as the sound of slamming metal reached her. Good ... they were safe.

The pantheress let out a roar as she hit the tree line and sank her claws into the first body she crashed into. She barley noticed the next explosion of charges creating a firewall between the forest and the school.

From there she operated on instinct and training. Throat. Never standing still. Artery. Gun on the ground takes another three down. There were dozens of them. Broken leg. Too many. Claws to the eyes. Shouting. Another two down. SO many guns. Snapped neck. Keep moving. Too many guns.

Kara let out a snarl. She was hit. Nothing vital. Didn't - didn't feel like a bullet. Slowing ... Logan voice in her head ... mixed with other ... needed some space. Deeper into the forest.

Kara moved to the trees, bounding off one to the other. The yells and shots getting dimmer. Just a little further before disappearing -

"GAHHHRRR!" Kara snarled in pain and surprise as she was suddenly yanked backwards, slamming into a tree before tumbling to the ground. Her leg was burning. She had just enough time to see the claws from the harpoon lodged into her thigh before she was pulled backwards another few feet.

That's when the truth hit Kara.

They weren't trying to kill her.

It was worse.

Kara managed to slice the line connected to the - the thing! embedded into her thigh but before she could take off another roar ripped out of the young feral as suddenly two more hits of pain sliced into her and she felt more claws dig into her left shoulder and another just above her right hip.

"It's this way!"

"Hold it down!"

"Fire! Fire!"

Kara lost all sense of control and was a tornado of claws and snarls as she dug her claws into the ground in an effort to drag herself away from danger. But it was too late ... all they'd needed was one and soon she was hit again and again and dragged further back. Kara managed to kill the next three men that got close, still desperately trying to get away, but with a sudden pull she was practically yanked off the ground.

"RAHHHHHHH!"

"Stay focused. Dose the target and we move. Control has EVAC in three minutes."

Kara roared and roared in fury and pain as she saw one of the soldiers come at her with a funny looking gun that she recognized. It was over ... she - she was going to go back. In the ground. In the dark. She - she didn't want to go!

"AWOOOOOO!" The lines holding Kara held firm as she suddenly went still as the soldiers she could see hesitated.

"What is that?"

"All mutants accounted for. Right?"

The soldier never got a chance to answer as suddenly there was a new round of gun shots as Kara collapsed to the ground with a grunt as two of the lines holding her dropped.

"It's a wolf!"

Kara's breathing was haggard as she tried rolling to her feet with a groan but her breathing actually stopped as the soldier she'd gauged to be in charge kicked her and was suddenly over her ... a harpoon straight through her chest forcing the fight out of her.

"Get the target prepared for transport." He ordered the two soldiers closest to him began to use the lines to wrap the still struggling pantheress as she tried to breath and fight them off. Or they were until suddenly one of the men disappeared beneath a growling fury of red fur and fangs.

"Get ... away ..." Kara managed out but Rahne just huffed and careful not to bite Kara used her teeth to pick the bloody feral off the ground using the cords still wrapped around her.

"Thank - RAHNE!" Kara's shout rang in the sudden silence after the shot as the Kara dropped back to the ground with a snarl as Rahne collapsed next to her.

"Finish the wolf. Take the target we need to move ... now!" Someone ordered as Kara struggled to break herself free. Rahne ... she - she wasn't moving. She had to get to Rahne. Someone was standing over them ... gun pointed at Rahne ...

"Big mistake. Pissin' me off."

Kara rolled to her side and as the entire clearing seemed to catch its breath.

"Wolverine." Kara managed out.

Kara had taken out fourteen attackers. Rahne three after her. That had left almost two dozen highly trained operatives armed with state of the art weaponry.

They never stood a chance.

Kara wasn't sure what happened ... for some reason her vision kept going out which was annoying ... but after the shouting, bullets, and screaming stopped she was in Logan's arms. She could move again but for some reason didn't really feel like it. Now that it was quiet ... everything hurt.

She heard someone talking ... it sounded kind of like her ...

"I don't want to go ... I don't want to go ..."

"I know Salem." Logan rumbled as he kept his hands on where the suddenly very small feral was bleeding the worst, shooting a look over at Scott and Bobby as they worked frantically but practiced on Rahne, "You're not goin' anywhere."