~Four and a half years later~

"Excuse me Sir. You dropped this."

Good Gods above, they were utterly hopeless.

Pinching the bridge of his nose the six year old golden eyed child watched his emerald eyed counterpart return the wallet he had just pickpocketed from a man.

God Damn It.

Those flightless birds...err...humans- God he still wasn't used to this- were probably the worst pickpockets the rouge haired villain ever had the pleasure of meeting.

For one what type of pickpocket returned the goods?

Secondly, who in their sane minds- then again, it was Rockgut...- shouted 'Diversion' while trying to distract someone?

Next time he would have to leave these two Nimrods at home as it was painfully obvious they weren't quite cut out for this- personally Red blamed their Moral Code.

"So.. How'd we do?"

That is, if he didn't kill them first...


After their rather...Troubling failure, it was decided to leave the underhand income to Red though Nigel couldn't find it within himself to be that upset about it. Every time he had tried to take a wallet all he could find himself thinking about was the families he was stealing from.

Did they have children?

Were they the type of Household that relied on each income to support theirselves?

Bills?

Food?

He just wasn't cut out for it. It was one thing to steal for his occupation but just to be stealing- even if it was for their own income- was a completely different issue.

He couldn't do it and Rockgut wasn't exactly Subtitle...Which left the rouge as their only real option- thankfully Red didn't seem to have any moral or physical issues with it. If anything the golden eyed boy was all too pleased to have them out of his way.


Winter was harsh, though Red could honestly say he had gone through worse. Though the winter probally would have been easier if he just overlooked this little issue. Or maybe if he had told anyone else about his plans instead of shooting down all attempts on the behalf of his constant annoyances.

Still he was a 'bloody russain bastard' -according to the spy- and therefore as a 'Bloody Russian Bastard' he did what he wanted when he wanted. Even if what he wanted was to drag a fucking tree through a blizzard in the middle of the night. Or to decorate said fucking tree and put damn wrapped boxes underneath it while the damn Nancy Cat and American slept.

And Nyet, he was not doing it for those bastards. He was just celebrating a holiday and they happened to be there. Of course he knew Christmas was in January but he was just celebrating a bit early.

It was just a coincidence all said brightly wrapped boxes were for the American and Nancy Cat. A complete and total coincidence nothing more nothing less.

Now to get started on dinner so that it would be ready in time.


For many Christmas was a time of celebration, family, hopes and dreams. It was a time for laughter and joy, but not for him.

As Buck Rockgut he had never had the time for such celebrations. His Father believed it a waste of time and he never quite grasped the concept of friends. There had only been Allies, Acquaintances, and Enemies.

As Harry Potter he had a lovely family but he somehow managed to sleep through the majority of the holiday. And now as a run away living on odd jobs and a Russian's thievery Christmas really didn't seem like an option.

They couldn't currently afford a tree and presents, let alone a feast.

So it was quite a surprise for the man turned child when he had dragged himself into the main center room of the base only to find a medium size tree sitting in the corner of the room surrounded by brightly colored boxes with a table covered in food nearby.

For a brief moment crimson eyes had stared in open disbelief as their owner slowly made his way closer to the table all the while silently pondered where the hell had all this come from and better yet how had it been moved into the area without him waking?

Maybe the Nancy Cat was behind it? The Spy was rather quiet when he wished to be. Who's to say the emerald eyed man... err child couldn't manage to somehow drag a tree past his room without waking him?

Yes, it had to be the Nancy Cat's work. He was the only person here sentimental enough to consider let alone do such a thing.

"What the- How...When? Bloody Hell. "

And there went that theory.

But then if it wasn't the Nancy Cat...

And I wasn't him then...

Nah, it was impossible.

He celebrated Christmas in January and he sure as hell wasn't sentimental enough to do this...

There was no way in Heaven or Hell that Mad Russian could or would be behind this...

Right?


He was never, NEVER doing another nice thing for these two bastards again.

All he wanted was sleep and maybe a steaming cup of coffee but no, those ingrates had to drag him out of his warm comfortable bed and shove a god damn cup of tea in his hands. Who the Fuck wanted tea? Unless they had some good ol' fashioned Russian water to go with it then it sure as hell wasn't him.

Why was he still here, swaying slightly on this god damn couch watching those bastards? He already knew what was in every box and he had cooked dinner. He didn't need to do this.

He needed- no wanted- some goddamn sleep... Hhmm, maybe they wouldn't notice if he closed his eyes for a moment?

"There's no presents for you."

The rouge couldn't help but scoff slightly at Nigel's words. Of course there wasn't, no one ever bought- or stole- for theirselves on Christmas. Let alone a Christmas that wasn't their's.

And who really cared if he didn't get anything? He didn't have sentimental ties to possessions besides his suit and eyepatch... And maybe a small photo album he kept inside a hidden pocket within his suit... Everything else was hilariously easy to abandon on a moments notice.

So honestly he couldn't quite see why his spy was so upset or why the American kept giving him that damn pitiful look.