That night

It was just past midnight and the mansion was sleeping peacefully, well most of it. In the dark a shadow was moving through the mansion dodging the security cameras as though they weren't there. Quicker then you could blink the intruder had reached the lab. Within five minutes the person was in and out with his pocket a little heavier then before.

Morning

It was a cool morning and Remy walked into the little cafe displaying none of his usually cocky attitude. Today he showed nothing but the air of a man on business, looking around briefly he saw the table he was looking for. Taking his seat, he checked the time and noticed that his host was five minutes late. Impatiently Remy sat at the small table spinning a card between his fingers. Soon the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he looked behind him. There with a very proud smirk stood a hard looking Japanese man several years older then Remy.

"I'm surprised I had to approach you Gambit. I think perhaps you letting yours self go soft." He lowered himself onto the chair across from Remy with an infuriating look. Remy narrowed his eyes at the man while giving a cold grin.

"Always a pleasure to see you too Hojo. I don't need to ask you how business has been, we both know it's goin pretty good for you." Hojo just nodded in agreement and didn't speak, he was waiting for Remy to make the first move. One thing that Remy hated about working with other thieves, they played their cards very close to the vest. Leaning across the table Remy spoke in the quietest tone he could.

"Alright homme I wanna know to what point and purpose you arranged to still from the Xavier Institute." Hojo crossed his arms and reclined comfortably in the seat.

"That's privileged information my friend. If your trying to turn a profit for yourself you'll need to offer me and mine a little something in return." Nodding his head Remy pulled out a small grubby package wrapped in a handkerchief and dropped it on the table with a heavy thunk. Looking at the package with great interest Hojo reached forward but was stopped when Remy swiped it of the table.

"Now I see I have your attention. You see I would wager that if you examine what it was you pilfered you'd discover a very important piece was missing." A barely there widening of the eyes betrayed the shock on the rival thief's face. Not needing any further invitation Remy pocketed his little package and stood up.

"Just you get a meeting set up with your employer so we can discuss my fee." Not waiting for an answer the cajun strolled out of the cafe leaving a dumbstruck master thief behind.

Anna (Christmas Eve)

I woke up that morning with the kind of joy and anticipation that only Christmas can bring. Practically skipping out of bed I grabbed the box I had stashed under my bed. Picking it up I made my way into one of the front rooms where a big Christmas tree had been erected. It was beautiful all twinkling lights and shining ornaments, I looked around to make sure I was alone. When I saw that nobody was coming I quickly took all my nicely wrapped presents and stashed them under the tree. It filled me with a feeling of pride that I was the first to get their gifts in position.

That done I went to find my breakfast humming under my breath. Remy was the only one in the kitchen standing over the stove nursing a frying pan, what ever he was making smelled delicious.

"Morning Remy!" A little startled he whipped his head to me before smiling really big.

"Well good morning Chere. Nice pj's." I blushed a little bit he was talking about my flannel pajama pants which were green with red holiday bells sewn on them. Looking for a change of topic I looked at the breakfast he was making.

"What are you making? It smells fantastic." He grinned his cocky smirk at my praise.

"It's french toast Chere. And I got a pot of coffee ready to go right now." Sighing in relief I poured myself a cup of coffee and perched myself up on the counter. Watching him cook for a few minutes while I sipped my hot drink.

"You know Remy I'm surprised that you're still around." He looked a little put out while he flipped the toast. Then he was really thinking about what I said and I couldn't decide if he was concerned or offended.

"You think Ol'Remy's gonna split in the middle of the night Chere?" Shaking my head I sipped my drink careful not to burn myself. I actually stopped to consider my words before I spoke.

"It's just that knowing you, I would have thought by now you would have found our thief and moved on by now." He didn't answer me, he could see through me I was trying to get information out of him. Since I wasn't really being subtle I wasn't offended when Remy refused to say anything on the matter. Instead he placed a plate next to me that was the most beautifully prepared meal of french toast I'd ever seen.

"Bon Appetite Chere." Not needing any further invitation I dug into the food and had to suppress a moan, it was delicious. The scene was really peaceful for all of two minutes then there was the sound of crashing down the hall. I heard a certain growl that was immediately recognizable, Logan was really mad at someone. The door into the kitchen swung open violently and Logan barged in teeth bared in a horrible snarl. Without preamble Logan came up to Remy and grabbing him by the collar shoved him up against the refrigerator.

"Logan! What on earth?" But my shout was cut of by the sight of Logan popping out his claws and pressing them to the soft flesh of Remy's throat. Getting close to the younger man's face Logan hissed out.

"What angle do you think your playing Gumbo? What did you walk away with?" All the noise seemed to alert more people because Scott and a couple of the kids came in. Scott came up and along with me we tried to pull Logan off of Remy which wasn't easy. Logan looked at us and spat out in his most certain voice.

"There's something else that's been taken from the Lab. The cajun there is the only one that's been in the Lab since it was robbed. He's up to something and I better learn what it is." He started to surge forward again but Scott and Piotr held him. I on the other hand was watching Remy, who was just standing there as cool as a cucumber. Feeling a niggle of doubt in my mind I looked at Logan and said firmly.

"You calm down, now all three of us are going down to the Lab to check it out." We walked in a very thick silence to the Lab. Logan looked ready to bust at any moment and Remy still looked impassive. I on the other had was really confused, Remy wouldn't do something like that. At least I prayed he wouldn't, after all he said he'd help us and Remy's not the double crossing type. We all walked into the Lab at the same time, Remy walked passed me and reclined against the desk while Logan kept a close eye on him. I made my way to the desk myself and opened the drawer. I checked over everything in there not once, not twice, but three times and finally raised my head to Logan telling him with absolute certainty.

"Logan there is nothing missing from this drawer." Logan looked like I had sucker punched him in the gut. Shaking his head at me he spoke in an astonished tone.

"That's impossible, one of those gadgets was missing I know it." Glancing back at the drawer I looked it over one more time and shook my own head.

"I don't know what to tell you Logan. Everything's present and accounted for." I looked at the small crowd that had followed us down here and scowled in disapproval.

"Okay, peanut gallery can disperse now." Soon the room was empty of all except for Logan, Remy, and me. Logan walked up to Remy and looking very angry said.

"I don't know what game your playing, but if I get one scent of trouble you'll have to deal with me." Without another word he walked away practically oozing with irk. Remy looked at me and trying to lighten the mood grinned at me.

"Wolvie don't like bein proved wrong eh?" Semi-ignoring him I walked over to the drawer again and began to think. Looking back at Remy I said in my thoughtful voice.

"But he shouldn't have been wrong." Remy's eyes widen a little bit and exclaimed.

"Now you think that Remy's been thieven from you too?" I shook my head trying to smooth over the accusation.

"I'm not saying that Remy. It's just that Logan would never raise an alarm without being positive something was wrong." I left it at that and soon Remy and I left the Lab both very quiet, the easy feeling from that morning was gone. Thankfully though nobody dwell-ed on the scare for long because they were to busy getting ready for the holiday tomorrow. Mostly I spent the day running around helping the more local kids get there things to go home. It is amazing how many times one kid can forget their own toothbrush and socks. The sun finally went down and I began to make my way back to my room, but was stopped by a small blond headed girl in a night dress. She hadn't been watching where she was going and blinked in surprise when she knocked into my legs. Grinning a little when I looked at her I saw she was carrying a small paper plate with three oreo's on it, she couldn't have been any older than eleven.

"Hey sweety getting ready for Santa?" She looked at me shyly and nodded her head. Offering her my hand she took it hesitantly and I lead her to the front room with the Christmas tree. Placing the plate on an inn table she smiled up at me.

"I'm hoping he'll bring me a teddy bear, like one I had before I had to run from home. It's one of the few things I miss." My eyes widened at the girls wish and all I could do was give a little smile and help her find her way back to her room.

The next morning I woke up to a sharp banging at my door. Opening it bleary eyed I nearly had the wind knocked out of me by two arm gripping my middle tightly. It was Adrian who seemed unable to contain himself as he practically shouted in my head.

"Merry Christmas Anna! Come on almost everyone's already downstairs!" Laughing at the boy I paused a moment to grab my robe before letting him drag me downstairs. Everyone in the Mansion that stayed for the holiday was joyously opening presents. Between friends at the Institute and understanding relatives everybody got at least one gift. I could even see Logan grinning at the leather cigar holder I'd bought for him, lets face it carrying cigar stubs in your pocket is unsanitary. Sitting around on a couch I talked and laughed with everyone, I even pulled the sweater that Storm got me on over my pj's.

Soon when everything calmed down a little bit people began to drift into the kitchen for a late brunch. I hung around to help pick up all the paper that had been left laying around. Then someone began tugging on my sleeve, looking I saw the little girl from last night. In her arms was a brand new teddy bear with a beautiful red satin ribbon tied around it's neck. Smiling like an angel she held up her other hand that was holding her paper plate.

"Santa heard us last night, he ate all the cookies." Smiling I took the plate from her and marveled at her gift, wondering how it was possible. Turning from me the girl crawled under the tree for a moment and then wriggled back out holding a little velvet box tied up with a red ribbon and a tag that said For Anna in fancy scrawl.

"Teddy was holding this when I found him." With that she went of to the kitchen leaving me alone. Taking a minute to look at it I slowly untied the satin and opened the box. I couldn't contain the gasp that flew out of my mouth. The box held a pendent that was made of fine gold, in the shape of a small Queen of Hearts. The designs on the tiny card were made up of tiny gems that gave it a colorful sparkle. Gently pulling the necklace out of the box and studied it with an uncertain smile.