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.2.

Should Have Knocked

After a nice long meeting with Ray and Tabby, where they were both reprimanded for their actions and given a harsh punishment, I head back to my room so I can change. I open the door, and walk in.

"Scott!" Kitty shouts, covering herself up with her hands.

"Kitty!" I exclaim, turning around, and covering my glasses with my hands. "I'm so sorry. The door was unlocked, so I thought you were gone."

I can hear her frantically covering herself with something. "I was just changing out of your shirt that I wore to bed last night; I didn't think it would be okay if I walked around the halls wearing your clothes." She explained. "And I forgot to lock the door."

"I still should have knocked, or something." I say.

"It's not your fault." She says. "It was an accident."

I hear her walking towards me, and glance over my shoulder, carefully, to see that she is wearing her dress again. "I'm still sorry, Kitty." I say, trying to give her a reassuring smile.

"It's okay." She says, not looking at me, but I can see her blushing. "I'm just going to go to my room, and change."

"Oh, I talked to Ray and Tabby about last night." I say. "Later today, they'll be taking care of your room. They're going to be bringing up a new mattress from the store room in the basement, using the stairs of course, and then they're going to hand wash everything that they touched; I'm going to make sure you have all new linens anyways, but still..."

"Thanks you, Scott." She replies, giving me a little smile, before opening the door and leaving.

I'm left there wondering why I get the feeling that something is wrong, and that I could have done, or said, something else.


Kitty closes her door behind her, and looks at the mess that is her bed. "Ugh." She groans, seeing that they hadn't even made an attempt at cleaning up a little.

Too tired, and too depressed to deal with it, she just ignores it, and removes her dress. When it's hanging up in the closet, she smiles sadly. "I doubt I'll ever get to wear this again." She mumbles to herself, as she runs her fingers down the dress.

She removes her panties, and tosses them aside, before grabbing something more comfortable from her dresser, and getting dressed.

She just finishes pulling a polo shirt on when there is a knock at her door. "Hey, Kitty; can Ah come in?" She hears Rogue ask.

"Yeah." Kitty replies, sitting at her vanity, and trying to make something out of her messed up hair.

The door opens, and Rogue peaks her head in. "Is it safe?" She asks, with a smile on her face. "Is everyone decent?"

"It's just me, Anna." Kitty replies, giving up and just tying her hair back into a ponytail.

"Oh, did he sneak out already?" Rogue asks, walking around the room.

"He wasn't here, Rogue." Kitty says, not looking at her.

"It sure looks lahke he was." Rogue says. "The bed is a mess, and..." She bends down and picks something up off the floor. "And your sexy underwear is just casually tossed on the floor? Sure looks lahke sumthin' happened here last night."

"Something did, but not with me." Kitty replies. "Ray and Tabby used my room too...you know."

"Eww." Rogue said, looking at the bed l it was some disgusting creature that had just spawned. "I hope you're gonna burn your bed."

"Scott is having them replace it later." Kitty replies.

"Oh, good." Rogue said. "Well Ah know these are yours, Ah was with ya when ya bought 'em; so Ah'm guessin' that they weren't tossed aside by Scott in a fit of passion?"

"No." Kitty replies, still not looking at Rogue.

"So, Ah'm just standin' here holdin' your panties; great." Rogue says walking over to the hamper, and dropping them in. "Ah'll just put 'em in here."

"Thanks." Kitty says.

"Kitty, what's wrong?" Rogue asks, thinking about sitting on the bed, but settling for kneeling in front of Kitty so that she can see her face. "What happened last night?"

"Why did I think I could ever have a chance with him, Anna?" Kitty says, as she starts crying. "I was just so stupid."

"Hey, hey." Rogue says, pulling her into a hug. "Tell me what happened."

Kitty goes on to tell Rogue the whole story about the previous night; from Scott's shocked reaction at seeing her there, too the kiss at Warren's, too Scott offering to plan their next date.

"Okay, Ah don't know how to tell ya this, Kitty, but that doesn't sound lahke it went bad at all; it sounds lahke Scott wants to go out with you again." Rogue says.

"No, he was just being Scott; you know, polite and non-confrontational." Kitty explains. "He doesn't really mean it; there will be no second date."

"Ah, Sweetie, let me tell you sumthin'." Rogue says, lifting Kitty's face until they are looking each other in the eye. "As someone who once had a major crush on Scott, Ah know from first hand experience; he's not someone who plays around when it comes to matters of the heart. He wouldn't offer to take ya on a second date if he had no intention of actually doing it."

"Well, even if that was true last night; I doubt it still counts now." Kitty says.

"Okay, so there's more to the story; go on." Rogue says.

"After we found Ray and Tabby...in here, he let me stay in his room. And before you get any ideas, he slept in his office." Kitty says. "Well when I woke up, I was changing out of one of his tee-shirts that I had worn to bed, when he walked in. He saw me standing there in nothing but my panties, and he couldn't look away fast enough; he couldn't even look at me after I had gotten dressed. I mean why would he? He had Jean, who was tall, and gorgeous, and a perfect ten; with big...boobs. Why would he even look twice at someone who looks like they still haven't finished going trough puberty?"

"Kitty, Ah think you're being ridiculous." Rogue says. "Scott's reaction was typical Scott, if ya think about it. And Ah don't think he's the shallow type."

"That's easy for you too say; look at you. You were an actual threat to Jean." Kitty says. "I wish I had your body; then maybe I might have a shot."

"Ah'm gonna remind myself that you're wallowin' in self-pity right now, and let that slide, but Ah still think you're wrong." Rogue says, standing up. "Ah think ya have a real shot at Scott, if ya'd just open your eyes, and let it happen."

Rogue walks out, leaving Kitty alone with her thoughts.


After a nice shower, and a fresh change of clothes, I feel refreshed; even if I barely slept last night. Most of the kids took my advice, and are outside playing in the snow, being supervised by Peter, or course; so the kitchen is completely empty when I get there.

I just finish making myself a sandwich, and turn around to see Rogue leaning against the island watching me.

"Look if you're here to tease me about last night, please don't." I say, sitting on a stool across from her.

"Oh, Ah'm not here ta tease ya, Scott." She says.

Something in her tone tells me that she is serious about something, and that gets my attention. "Then what?" I ask.

"I just had a nice long talk with Kitty." She says. "And she was cryin' through most of it."

"What?" I ask. "Why was she crying?"

"Because she thinks that ya was just bein' polite, an' lettin' her down easy, last night." She replies. "That ya ain't never gonna take her on another date."

I'm flabbergasted by this news; I thought I had made it clear to Kitty last night.

"She's not a little girl anymore, Scott; she's a grown woman, and she can handle ya bein' honest." She says.

"But I was being honest; I really was." I reply. "I want to take her on another date; I want to see if there is something there between us." I take a deep breath, my sandwich completely forgotten. "I told her that I'm not sure if I'm ready to move on yet, but that I'd like to give it a chance. I don't know if I'll ever really know that I'm ready to move on; so maybe the only way to know...is to try."

"See, that's what Ah tried to tell her." She says, sitting down and looking outside. "Ah knew ya wasn't the type to play around with someone's heart."

"I'm not." I reply.

"Well ya need to convince her of that, 'cause she ain't listenin' to me." She says, turning to look at me. I can tell by the way she's looking at me that she's looking for my reaction. "Are ya attracted to her?"

"Yes." I reply too quickly, my voice raising an octave, as I try to push down the image of Kitty standing in my room wearing nothing but her panties. "I mean, I think she's very attractive." I can feel my face heating up as a blush spreads across my cheeks.

Rogue laughs, and reaches across the island to slap my shoulder. "Alright." She says, after the laughter dies down. "That's another thing ya need to make sure she understands then." She gets up to leave, but stops at the door. "Of course, this goes without sayin', but we never had this conversation. Normally we don't discuss these things with guys, but I think I needed to break the rules this one time."

"What conversation?" I ask, nodding to her.

She smiles, and leaves me alone with my thoughts.

"Okay, so I need to find a way to make Kitty understand that I was serious." I think to myself. "This is going to take some work." I pick up my sandwich, and start walking to my office.


I spend the day in my office, not because I'm avoiding anyone, especially not Kitty, but because I'm busy making plans. The only time I leave, is to make sure that Ray and Tabby are doing what I asked, and making up for their...mistake.

When I'm done, I head upstairs and grab some fresh linens for Kitty's room. The door is open, and the room looks clean. I'm a little surprised at just how good a job Ray and Tabby did, and realize that they are finally showing signs of maturity; excluding the previous night's events.

I place the linens on her dresser, and start making the bed. From childhood, my father taught me how to make a bed with military precision; so when I'm done, you could bounce a quarter off of it. I pick up the freshly washed comforter, and spread it out on the bed. Then I reach into my pocket and place a letter I had written on her pillow.

I turn to leave, and nearly run over Kitty as she walks into the room. "Scott?" She asked, looking nervous. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to make sure that Ray and Tabby did a good job, and to bring you fresh linens." I reply. "While I was here, I figured I could at least make the bed for you."

"Oh, thank you." She says, looking away.

"No problem, Kitty." I say, giving her a smile. "I'll get out of your hair. Good night, Kitty."

"Good night, Scott." She says.

I step past her, into the hallway, and start heading to my room. I only get a couple of doors away before Kitty comes rushing out of her room. "Scott, wait." She calls out.

I turn to face her, keeping my face neutral. "Yes?" I ask.

"What's this?" She asks, holding up the letter.

"Well, it looks like a letter, too me." I reply.

"I figured as much." She says, shaking her head. "But what's it about?"

"How should I know?" I ask. "Maybe you should read it, and see." I give her a smile, and turn around.

I can feel her eyes on my back as I walk down the hall, but don't turn around.


Kitty watches him walk away, wondering what kind of game he's playing; Scott isn't known to be so vague, or mysterious.

She heads back into her room, closes the door, and sits on her bed. She looks at the letter again, instantly recognizing Scott's writing. She opens it up, and starts to read.

At first she's a little confused, but the more she reads, the more it starts to make sense, and she starts to smile. By the time she's done, she has a huge grin on her face. She lays back on her bed, kicking her legs up in the air, clutching the letter to her chest, and squealing like a schoolgirl who just got named prom queen.


Text in Italic = 'Thoughts'