Staying at Home This Holiday
This is the sequel to Home to Meet the Family. It takes place about a month later. Again, this is set in 2005 to give it place with the broadcast dates. Oddly enough that year, the first night of Hanukkah that year was sunset Christmas day. That happens almost never. Ever- I've checked for a century on either side.
---x
"Kitty, are you sure this is where you want me to drop you?" Jean looked through the windshield of her vehicle.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." The shorter girl grinned. "I'm a member of the X-men, and we just survived the mall on Christmas Eve. I think I can walk home a few miles, and I've got my phone and my communicator if we have to go out. I just want to stretch my legs."
"And it wouldn't have anything to do with a certain German, would it?" Jean pulled to the curb, about a hundred feet from St. Gertrude's.
"Heh!" Kitty blushed. "How long did it take you and Scott?"
"As long as you and Kurt? But you two haven't done anything about it yet." Jean stuck her tounge out as Kitty phased through the car door.
If Kurt had been right, they'd be getting out shortly. She looked at the statue of the grimly studious-looking saint whom the church was named after. A few people glanced at her- it was odd to see a young lady outside of Christmas Eve mass, but it was far from the oddest thing that people had seen in Bayville since she'd first come here. She whispered softly, "no, not by a long shot."
A few minutes later than she'd expected, the doors opened, people streaming out. In the light, she saw the lean form of Kurt, the holowatch not able to cover up his grace. When he saw her, he grinned- for moment, she was afraid he'd port over to her, but he just hoped up onto the snowbank and strode over the top of it effortlessly, feet fast enough that he wouldn't sink in, before hoping the hedge that ran next to the path. He could feel the priest scowling at him as his hands caught on the railing on the other side, springing off. He landed next to her, bowing with a grin, his hair flying. "Ta-da!"
There were a few claps from the other attender's of mass. He turned to face them, bowing. The priest smiled, shaking his head. He'd seen the young lady- the expression on his face was better than telepathy. Kids.
"Show off." She poked him in the side playfully. "I thought you might want company walking home."
"You didn't have to, it's cold out."
She looped her arm through his. "Maybe something fuzzy will keep me warm?" Kitty blushed slightly as she saw his body language stiffen though the inducer, knowing he was blushing to. She looked into the brown eyes of the false Kurt, knowing that the golden ones were seeing her. Maybe some day he'd be willing to walk down the street as his true self. That would be the day they could both walk down the street without being scorned or feared. She smiled up at him, burying the thought.
But she wasn't fast enough. Beneath the mask, his ears warmed a little. He'd seen the look on her face, he'd seen it before. He did want to turn it off, but he was afraid. When he was by himself, it was merely inconvenient to be blue with pointy ears and a devil tail- he could get away from any mob with torches and pitchforks. But with others, they would be at risk. Maybe it was his own fear talking, justifying it to himself, but if he looked like a normal person, he was their emergency out- they could grab the elf and bamf!
Forcing himself to smile, he took her hand in his. He knew people were looking on, mostly approvingly, as they walked away. Well, a young man and a young woman arm-in-arm might be an odd thing in Bayville. "Kitty, did you and Jean really go to the mall tonight?"
"Hmmhmm. Us and like a million other nuts." She giggled. How they got out of the Roosevelt Field parking lot was going to be her and Jean's secret. Now that she was an instructor, she should know better, that is what the Professor would tell her.
Kurt shook his head. "Probably closer to two million. Vhas it worth it?"
She shrugged. The key to extreme shopping wasn't in what you got, or even what you looked at. It was being there, so you could say you did it. They weren't going to do it again.
They walked in silence, savoring each other's physical presence.
They were leaving the lights of town. Maybe they should have been nervous, walking a little traveled road at night. But like Kitty had told Jean, they were X-Men, they'd faced down everything from calculus exams to Apocalypse. Kitty looked up into his eyes. They were pretty eyes, almost like her own- if she'd not known they were a hologram, she could have liked them. But not as much as the amber-gold of his real eyes. She stopped him, brushing his bangs back. "Kurt, we are far enough out of town."
He looked about nervously. "Jah?" He thought for a moment. "Jah, we are Kitty." He grinned as he slid his sleeve back, turning off the inducer. Kitty's smile turned itself up about a hundred watts, as she reached up to stroke his cheek. "There, now you look like you feel."
---x
With most of the students leaving to spend time with their families, the Institute was quiet compared to what it was normally. It was almost like the old days with mostly the faculty in residence at the moment. Everyone who'd been on leave for Thanksgiving was there for Christmas. Kitty and Kurt would be back soon. Jean and Scott were curled up in the library, sharing a couch, each reading their own book. Only by their long practice and relationship could that work- Jean was leaning back against his chest, her arms pressing against his own, his book just beyond and above her own. Or maybe they were both reading each other's book- it was hard to tell.
Hank and the Professor were staring at each other over a chess board, half an hour since the last move. Storm was going to be going into the City in the morning to spend time with her sister and brother-in-law; there had been no word from Evan in months. Laura had found a tree to sit in, and watch the stars. Alex was watching the trees, shivering with his tropics thinned blood despite a parka more suitable for Christmas in Siberia than on Long Island.
In the kitchen, Logan was washing the dishes. It was his turn. Besides, he could watch Alex from here. If Slim2 wasn't going anywhere, he wasn't either. He reached for his coffee cup, biting back a curse when it slipped from his soapy fingers, into the dish water. He scowled at the darkening water. It had been the last cup in the pot, acidic and perfect after being reheated.
Taking advantage of her roommates' absence, Rogue had turned off all the lights in her room. She'd dragged her round chair before the window, her feet and hands bare for a change. She relax, sighing. Every so often, she'd catch herself humming a Christmas carol. She bit down on her lower lip each time, stopping herself. Part of her was worried. The New Year, that was what Remy had said, he'd be back by the New Year. It was only a week away. She didn't know what he'd discussed with the Professor, and none who might have overheard had been willing to tell her. He'd come in the night, disturbing the entire Institute shortly after school started, then been gone before breakfast.
Logan and the Professor had told her it was his choice. He'd wanted to go on whatever fool quest he was on. He had something to proved to someone.
Not to her.
Some of her friends had offered to hunt him down and bring him back. But no, she'd seen him off before he left for his mysterious mission. He kissed her hand, and promised he'd be back.
She'd been strong and silent, as always. She wasn't just Rogue, she was The Rogue, just like Logan was The Wolverine or the Prof was The Professor. You could hear the Capital Letters, she was self defining. People had asked her what she wanted for Christmas. She'd only shrugged. If she couldn't have what she wanted, she'd settle for being a little less well defined. Kitty and Laura wouldn't tell.
Rogue hugged her knees- she could barely remember having lived with Destiny, and it had been less than five years ago. She thought she was cared for, but she'd been alone. Sure, she'd learned a lot, Destiny had wanted her to be a bit of a tomboy, but she now knew that the "friends of the family" who'd taken her in to the swamps to hunt and fish, taught her to ride motorcycles and go bogging with jeeps, they'd all been part of whatever plan Destiny and Mystique had. She'd taken that, adding it to her skills, making her self sufficient, but she didn't like to think about where or how she'd learned it. It was like everything before coming to the Institute was another lifetime ago, and she'd been reborn a new and good person. She glanced at a picture of her odd little group that she kept by her lamp. Kitty and Kurt, doing bunny ears at each other, Logan trying not to smile, and her. She didn't even remember where it had been taken, but they were in their uniforms. All of them had dirty faces. She remembered Scott taking it. She chuckled, thinking that they needed another, one with Logan and Laura together.
She couldn't see those two doing bunny ears, or even bunnyclaws behind the other's heads, both were too stubborn and serious.
If she'd asked Destiny six or seven years ago, the blind mutant would have told her that Rogue was loved and safe. Mystique would have said the same thing, as Darkholme or as Rystie. She'd never asked with these four. She didn't have to ask; they didn't have to tell her. She had friends, and she had a family now. But she missed Remy.
She snorted a silvery lock from her face. He'd kidnapped her, and tried to blow her up when they first met, but she had feelings for him. He was complicated. A wonderful kind of complicated.
"Ah hate romance novels. So why am Ah livin' one?" After a moment, she glanced towards the ceiling. "That was rhetorical, okay?"
---x
Kitty held Kurt's hand, and held him in her powers as she phased through the gate. It was too cold to touch it. She stopped just inside. "Oh, Kurt, I'm sorry, I should have warned you."
"Vhat? You weren't going to phase us through?" He grinned. "Kitty, if you didn't, I vas going to port us through." She giggled. They had been getting in and out of trouble together for too long. She hadn't smelt the ozone or felt the tingle that she'd come to associate with the start of a bamf, so she'd stepped them through. He started to chuckle, and they both started laughing. It took them several minutes to recover enough to walk to the front door.
"Kurt?" Kitty stopped, reaching into her jacket as they stood before the light.
"Jah, Kitty?"
She pulled out a package, small, it fit in her hand easily. "Merry Christmas, Kurt."
Kurt's fingers removed the paper neatly, before opening the small jewelry box. He picked up the pendant, looking at it closely. A saint's medal, in brushed steel. She'd put it on a length of black satin cord, so it wouldn't get caught in his fur. "St Philip Neri?"
"He seemed like the right one to protect my Fuzzy."
---x
The smell of cooking wafted through the Manor. Several noses twitched. Rogue's eyes popped open. This smelled like her kind of food. She could smell someone frying up andouille, and there was chicory in the coffee pot. There were other things, but bayou food could mean-
"Rogue," she whispered to herself, "don' be gettin' yer hopes up. Ororo could be cooking it." She sat up slowly, a part of her wanting to run down the stairs without even bothering to get dressed. She reached for her gloves, not able to hold back the barest of grins when she realized that Laura was sitting in lotus, her eyes closed as she let herself center. Kitty was snoring, even if she'd denied it even with recordings to prove it- years ago, Rogue had negotiated it down to "purring". It was a probably a morning just like any other.
She pulled on socks and her slippers, and a sweatshirt, before leaving the room as silently as possible.
She crept down the stairs. There was humming in the kitchen. Not humming, not really, just a voice singing without words. A familiar voice. "Oh mah god..." She raced through the parlor and the large dining room. She banged through the door. "Oh maH GOD!" Her voice rose through it's range as she stopped and stared. "Remy LeBeau yah no good halfwit cardsharking Swamp Rat, Ah've been worried about yah!"
"Hello, chere. Ah swore Ah'd be back 'afore- omph!" Gambit was almost knocked of his feet by Rogue's embrace. He was vaguely aware of someone taking the spatula from his hand. He whispered softly in her ear, as they held each other. She pulled her head back, shushing him as she slide her hand over his mouth. His red-on-black eyes widened as he felt the warmth of her breath on his chin before she kissed him through her fingers.
Logan smirked as he plucked a Rogue hair from the spatula before stirring the eggs so they wouldn't burn. 'Bout damn time. The Cajun had called the Prof shortly after midnight from Grand Central, sounding half asleep. But his mission was accomplished. They'd see results in a few days. Logan wasn't entirely thrilled with either events. Charles' package made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, just thinking about it. Having this new addition made hairs stand up that he didn't know he'd had until a minute ago. But Charles had asked him to trust him; he couldn't say no to the man.
Besides, when Logan had reached the train station, he'd been given a gift. It was a large glass jar, smelling faintly of pickled eggs and sausage, but empty. He wasn't still quite sure how to take the explanation. 'For Remy's head, jus' in case it ever need to come off.' He thought that he'd been given permission to kill the young man, if the need arose. Logan would have rather have had the original contents.
It had been a long rest of the night. The younger man had insisted they find an all night grocery store with proper cajun food, for a proper Christmas breakfast. "Rogue, let the boy up for air- this was his bright idea, I'll let it all burn and don't think I won't!"
Laughing, they let go of each other.
---x
Kitty breathed deeply. This felt, like, really, really weird. The last light of the day was fading outside.
The Professor had offered him the use of his study for this. The light of these candles was not to shine within, but to show those without that the miracle was still remembered. It did face the gate, and it was on the upper story, and there were the big windows. It was perfect, but she still wanted to look over her shoulder for her father, or even better, Opa. This was her first Hanukkah without them.
She slipped the central, thicker candle from the menorah, lighting it. She stuttered her way through the three blessings, lighting the first light with the shamash. She watched the flames as they slowly sank lower to the brass cups. Hanukkah was about miracles. The past year had been full of them.
The first light fluttered and died, while the guardian candle still burned. She watched it for a moment, before carefully blowing it out. She could hear feet shuffling outside. She phased through the door, blinking at the brightness of the light.
"Hi Kitty." Kurt smiled. "I thought you might want company walking home."
"I am home." She hugged him. "Silly Fuzzy."
"I got you something." Kurt lifted a small package from the table behind him with his tail. "Happy Hanukkah, Katzchen ."
---Author's note:
St Philip Neri is the patron of joy, practical jokes and Special Forces. Get in, get out, then haha-boom. He also did a lot of work with kids. No matter how bad things were, his reputation was for laughing as he got back up on his own feet. Sounded like a good saint for Kurt.
In the REAL Bayville NY, Kurt would be going to St Gertrude's. Real town. Kinda neat, but I can't find a good place to drop the Institute. Oh, and St Gert is a patron of cats and travelers- a fuzzy on walkabout... There is a Kurt joke in here someplace.
And NO, I'm not telling what Remy's secret mission was. There is one more of these holidays pieces, it will be up around New Years. So you'll find out shortly after you find out Kurt gave Kitty.
And if you want to know what the hell happened that night when Remy left the first time, then you'll just have to be patient and watch They Never Trained Me For This. Cross-title arcs work for Marvel, they'll work for me to.