Universe and Timeline: This story can easily translate to any X-men
universe, however for safe keeping we'll say movie verse. (Set after
X2)

Summary: You know the story where someone wants to get gift for
somebody, but the only way to get it, is to make a deal with someone
who wants something else in exchange; and so on, and so on, and so
on…
Well here it is again-- mutant style!

Rating: PG pretty mild really.

Disclaimer: All characters in this story are property of Marvel
comics. In other words, I don't own em and they won't be making me
any money. There, happy now!

Feedback: If you do, I bet Santa will put you on his nice of the Night Crawler

Ch1
"Alright everyone, we'll meet back here at five," Ororo announced to
the lively crowd of teenage mutants as they went inside the busy
shopping mall. Instantly the group broke up into several smaller and
now bouncier groups, then disappeared into the bustling crowd.
"Bet ya a hot cocoa at the food court that half of em show up
late," Logan grumbled as he walked alongside of Storm while Kurt
walked on her other side.
"But dat iz vhy you came along Logan, ja? Zo you could track zem
down if necessary," the blue teleporter softly mentioned, with his
hat and coat pulled closely to his face to avoid being seen.
"True; and believe you me, Elf, anyone I hafta go fetch ain't gonna
be too happy when I get a hold of em," Logan declared as all three
ducked and dodged the hordes of Christmas shoppers.
"Well, I do want both of you to know that I appreciate you coming
along to help out with the Christmas shopping this year," Ororo
thanked the men once again. Logan merely grumbled something
unintelligible, while once again Kurt raised his head above his
collar and smiled. "It is a pleasure, fraulein. Christmas is mine
favorite time of year!"
Ororo's smile only broadened. "I'm so glad to hear that, Kurt! Now,
here's your list," and she handed him a list that was three pages
long. "And here's yours." She then held out Logan's list to him,
only to have the feral stare at it with a shocked look on his face.
Reluctantly he took it from her hand and started to read the items
on the list. "I gave you the smallest list, Logan," Ororo meekly
assured him.
"Hmmm, I see," he calmly noted as he flipped the single page over to
see if there was any thing more on the other side. "Well, thanks for
the favor," he added sarcastically before taking off on his own to
begin getting the things Storm listed.
"Vould you like to do your shopping viz me?" Kurt kindly offered his
arm to his favorite weather witch and together they set out to
tackle the chore of Holiday shopping.
For the rest of the afternoon Ororo and Kurt trekked around the
mall, going from one department store to the next until they had
found most everything on their lists. Afterwards, they decided to
rest up at the food court before returning to the designated meeting
place. As Kurt sat at the tiny table with his hot cocoa, he noticed
a Christmas tree standing off to the side of the food court. On it
were a few modest decorations and a single strip of paper hanging
from a branch. What an odd decoration,' he said to himself, and
strained his eyes to take a closer look. He could make out the
bolder print on the paper, reading "SECRET SANTA", and underneath
those words was something hand written. Curious at what he had
found, the teleporter walked over to the tree and took the paper in
hand. On it he read—"girl, age 8, size S, toy HOLIDAY PRINCESS
BARBIE."
"Ororo?" Kurt raised his head and spoke up loud enough for her to
hear. "Vat iz zis?"
Ororo looked up from her warm cup of herbal tea. "Every year,
charitable organizations collect the names of needy children and ask
them what they want for Christmas. They write the information down
on "SECRET SANTA" cards, and hope that someone will be kind enough
to pick up a card and buy what that child is asking for," she easily
explained. "It looks like all but that one is gone."
Kurt nodded as he stared thoughtfully at the paper. "Can anyone do
zis?"
"Of course," Ororo smiled. "I'm sure we'll have enough room in the
van for one more package." Kurt smiled back and carried the paper
over to their table for Storm to take a look at the list herself.
But as soon as she read what the girl was hoping for, her smile
quickly faded.
"Well, that would explain why this card wasn't picked up sooner,"
she remorsefully said with a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm
sorry Kurt, but I heard on the news that the HOLIDAY PRINCESS BARBIE
is this year's hottest toy and that every store has been sold out
since Thanksgiving. It will be impossible to find one this late."
A very disappointed Kurt quietly took the paper back to put it back
on the tree, but just as he was about to leave it there he turned
back and defiantly snatched it off the tree once more. "I believe He
had me see zis for a reason, Ororo, and vith His help, nothing is
impossible." Ororo gently shrugged her shoulders and took another
sip of her tea. She smiled to herself and looked away, surrendering
the argument entirely, but only because she know how stubborn the
blue mutant could be. Kurt walked back to Ororo's side and took her
by the hand. "Come, fraulein, let us go to zat toy store downstairs
and look zere first."
Kurt and Ororo collected their things and carried their bags and
boxes down the escalator and headed toward the ritziest toy store
chain in the country, SOB Shultz.
They were almost to the door, when among the many shoppers walking
their way, they spied what appeared to be a mound of boxes and bags
walking around all on their own. All anyone could see of the person
laboring with this mass of merchandise were his blue jeans, cowboy
boots and the very top of his jet black head. "Short list, huh?" a
voice grumbled from behind the boxes.
"Logan?" Ororo humorously gasped as she and Kurt stopped to stare at
the very peculiar sight. "Is that you?"
"Well, it ain't ol' jolly St. Nick!" he snapped at them in his less
than perky self. Ororo shook her head in confusion. "Now wait a
minute Logan, I know there wasn't that much on the list I gave you."
"Yeah, well I picked out a few extra goodies along the way. It's so
hard to turn down a good bargain when you've got full access to
someone like Charles' credit card," Logan joked as he tried to peer
over the multitude of packages in his hands.
"Here, meine freunde, let me give you a hand," Kurt offered as he
reached out his tail and grabbed the handles of several bags in
Logan's bundle. Suddenly from behind, there came a loud crashing
noise as a woman close by saw the blue man's tail freely dangling
five large shopping bags above his head and dropped her own bags in
shock. Logan turned to give the woman a rude and offensive
glare. "Humph! You'd think they never seen a mutant before," he
snorted loudly enough for the haughty woman to hear.
"We have one more errand to run before we're done, Logan," Ororo
informed him. "Would you like to join us?"
Logan nodded his head and went into the toy store after them. "Beats
standing out here and watching these idiots look stupid," he
mentioned as he watched the angry but also embarrassed woman
stooping over to pick up her bag of broken gifts.