Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men or any other Marvel characters. The only thing that is mine is the plot.

A/N: I had started this epilogue shortly after releasing the original story, but my desire to write anything X-Men was squashed by the direction Marvel took the X-Men (and more specifically, Cyclops) around the time it was posted. But it was hard to stay away forever, and after going through my collection of unfinished stories, and posting a couple of things, I decided to give it another try. This was one story that I had truly been looking forward to writing an epilogue too, and though it took me longer than I liked, I finally finished it, and decided to post it. Like with the original story, this will mostly be from Cyclops' P.O.V., with the occasional snippet about other characters. Please enjoy, and feel free to leave a review.

Secret Santa: The Aftermath

Chapter.1.

The Morning After

It's nearly 5 in the morning by the time I finally pull up to the Institute, parking the Shelby in the garage. I turn off the engine, and look to my right, where Kitty has fallen asleep, still wrapped up in my Tuxedo jacket. A smile appears on my face as I look at her, thinking about the evening we just had.

I wish I could just leave her be, and let her sleep, but I know that I can't; so I exit the vehicle, and make my way around to the passenger side. I open the door, and reach in, trying to lift Kitty out without waking her, but I'm unsuccessful, and she wakes up.

She groggily, steps out of the car, and leans against me, struggling to keep her eyes open. "Are you okay to walk, or do you want me to carry you?" I ask, leaning down to see if she's still awake, or if she's fallen asleep standing up.

"I'm okay." She mumbles, but as she tries to take a step, she nearly falls over. I reach out and grab her around the waist, preventing her from hitting the floor. "Maybe you should carry me." She says, with a little giggle.

I scoop her up in my arms, and she giggles again, before wrapping her arms around my neck, and leaning her head against my shoulder. I barely take 10 steps before she falls back asleep.

I make my way as quietly as I can through the mansion, and up the stairs, before turning down the hall to the girls dorm. I can't help but feel that every step I take sounds like a gunshot going off and that any minute now, everyone will step out of their rooms and find me carrying a sleeping Kitty.

"Why does your room have to be all the way at the end of the hall?" I ask her quietly, knowing that she can't hear me, and won't answer.

I get to her door without incident, and shake her enough to wake her. "We're here, Kitty." I say, quietly.

"Hunh." She says, still a little unsteady on her feet as I put her down. "Oh, thanks, Scott."

"No problem, Kitty." I say, returning the smile she gives me. "Will you be okay from here?" I ask.

"Yeah." She replies, reaching for the door knob. "Thanks again."

I'm about to turn and leave, when she places a hand on my arm. I look at her, as she stands up on her tip toes, and leans in to give me a brief, soft kiss. "Good night." She says, blushing.

"Good night." I reply.

I wait for her to step into her room, and for the door to close before I turn to leave.

I don't get very far, before I hear some frantic movement coming from her room. "Oh my God." I hear her exclaim, as she comes running out of her room. She runs to me, and presses herself against my chest, where I instinctively wrap my right arm around her, while lifting my left hand to my glasses, in case of an attack.

"My eyes." She mumbles into my chest. "I can never un-see that."

Before I can ask her what she means, Ray steps through her door, holding a pillow in front of him, and, obviously, wearing nothing else. "Kitty, I'm so sorry." He says, quietly, trying to not wake up any of the other residents.

"Ray?" I ask, shocked and confused to see him in Kitty's room.

"Scott." He says, finally noticing me there. "Oh shit. Dude, it's not what it looks like."

"Hey Kitty, we're really..." Tabby says, stepping behind Ray, and using him for cover. "Oh." She says, when she sees me. "Hey Scooter. You guys are home earlier than expected."

It doesn't take me long to piece together what is happening, and I don't feel like dealing with it right now. "We'll talk about this later." I say, pointing at Ray and Tabby. "Trust me; we'll talk."

I take Kitty, by the shoulders, and lead her back down the hall, glaring at the two of them over my shoulder, as they duck back into Kitty's room, and close the door.

"I'm going to have to burn it all." Kitty mumbles. "I can never sleep in that bed again. Oh God, my pillow was covering his...and he was ...and they must have...oh God."

"We'll deal with it tomorrow, Kitty." I say.

"I'm going to have to move to another room." She continues to mumble. "I can never sleep in there after seeing what I saw."

She stops mumbling, and suddenly realizes where we are. "Ah, Scott?" She asks. "What are we doing here?"

I open the door to my room, and lead her inside. "You can sleep in my room." I say. "I'll sleep on the couch in my office downstairs."

"But Scott..." She starts to say, as I rummage through my dresser for some comfortable clothes to change into.

"It's fine, Kitty." I reply. "It's really late, or early I should say, and we're both tired. You can stay here for tonight, and we'll deal with this all tomorrow." I turn around, holding my change of clothes, and grab my sleeping glasses from the nightstand. "Feel free to change into anything I have; so you don't have to sleep in your dress."

"Are you sure?" She asks. "I don't mind sleeping on the couch, and you can sleep here."

"It's fine, Kitty." I reply, giving her a smile. "I've slept on that couch lots of times whenever I've been working late; I'm used to it." I wrap her up in a half hug, and kiss the top of her head. "Besides, after everything you did for me tonight, the least I can do is offer you my bed."

I feel her choke back a laugh.

"I probably could have chosen a better way to say that, but you know what I mean." I say, shaking my head. "I'll see you tomorrow, and I'll have a nice long talk with Tabby and Ray about...everything."

I release her, and walk to my door. "Good night, again, Kitty." I say, looking over my shoulder at her.

"Good night." She replies, sitting down on my bed, and watching me leave.

I close the door behind me, and silently make my way downstairs to my office, where I quickly change into a pair of flannel pants, and my sleeping glasses. Then I lie down on the couch, and close my eyes.

The analytical part of me wants to stay up and process everything that has happened tonight, and what it all means, but I know that if I don't get some sleep, I'll be useless for the rest of the day.

Kitty slowly wakes up, feeling a little chilly, despite the fact that she in covered with a large comforter, and wonders why. She sits up in bed, and rubs her eyes, looking around for the source of the chill. She doesn't immediately recognize the room, and wonders where she is, until she remembers the events of the previous night.

She looks over at the window when she feels a cold breeze, and is shocked to see Gambit sitting on the window sill, with the window open, smoking a cigarette.

"Mornin', Petite." He says, blowing smoke out the window.

"Morning." She replies, sheepishly.

"Remy be comin' here to talk to Scott, and instead he be findin' you sleepin' in Scott's bed." He says, taking another drag, and tossing the remainder of his cigarette out the window. "And Scott ain't nowhere to be found." He blows that last puff of smoke out, and closes the window. "Now, to be honest, Remy be thinkin' he not be seein' either of you back until later today."

"Scott slept in his office." Kitty says, blushing and avoiding eye contact.

"Hmph." He says, cracking his knuckles. "Remy be lettin' you get back to sleep, Petite. But you might want to make sure to lock da door properly; wouldn't want anyone else to just walk in here and see you sleepin' in da Bosses bed, now would we?"

He leaves the room, Kitty ducks back under the covers, and closes her eyes.

Years of training with Wolverine has heightened my senses to the point that I can tell when someone enters the room, even if I'm asleep; but Gambit wouldn't be the master thief he is if he got caught that easily. So it's a bit of a shock to me when I sit up on the couch and find Gambit sitting at my desk, with his feet up.

"Mornin' Boss." Gambit says, with a smile. "Funny dat you not be in your room."

"Is something wrong, Remy?" I ask, standing up and stretching. "Or did you just want to bust my balls?"

"Remy just wanted to see how last night went, mon amie." Gambit says, removing his feet from my desk.

"And it couldn't wait until I was dressed, because..?" I ask, folding the blanket I had been using, and placing it in the closet with my pillow. "It went fine; it was nice."

Gambit just nods, as he stands up. "You should probably take care of da fact dat dere be a femme sleepin' in yo' bed; wouldn't want any nasty rumors to start." Gambit says, as he walks out of my office, a smirk on his face.

I'm not surprised that Gambit knows about Kitty, and just hope that no one else finds out.

Once the door closes behind Gambit, I sit behind my desk and reach for the phone. I lift the receiver to my ear, and press the intercom button. "Good morning everyone." I say, and I can hear my voice go out throughout the institute's speakers. "I hope everyone slept well, and that you all had a happy new year." I pause for a second before continuing. "I would just like to say that I'm canceling all training sessions for today and tomorrow; so feel free to go out and enjoy the beautiful winter weather." I pause again, a wicked smile appearing on my face. "And could Tabitha and Raymond please come to my office; I would like to have a word with the two of you."

Text in Italic = 'Thoughts'