BACK AT THE MANSION...

"Now, Hank," Rogue stood with a hand on her hip. "Ah figured we would be the ones startin' trouble. Not you." She grinned as smoke rose off of the bouncing blue beast's fur.

He stared in awe at what was supposed to be simple sugar cookies in the shape of Christmas trees. All that was left now were just tiny piles of burnt pastry, some still on fire. Hank prided himself to be a great cook. "I don't know what could have occurred to cause them to combust as they did." A snicker filled the air and he whipped around to see Remy lounging against the table.

"Wasn' me. Swear!" He put his hand up, much like a boy scout would.

Hank wasn't impressed. "To take the word of a thief? Honestly, Remy."

"Now, Hank..." Rogue took Remy's side and ruffled his already disheveled hair. "If Remy said he didn't do it, then he didn't, raht? You wouldn't like it if Ah falsely accused you of... let's say, rearranging my closet and mixin' my boots with mah, umm... other boots, because you have no reason foh it, correct?"

He hung his head. "I suppose you're right..."

"It's okay," Rogue said, putting a hand on his shoulder, rubbing out the tiny flame on his apron before it could spread.

"I don't suppose the two of you would like to help me cle-" Hank stopped in mid-sentence as the two teenagers had mysteriously vanished. "No, of course not," he muttered to himself.



Back in the safty of Remy's room (or rather the relative safety, since this WAS Remy's room), the two sank down on the bed. Rogue looked over and frowned at her still snickering boyfriend.

"Ya're the one who toasted Hank's cookies." It was less a question than a statement.

He looked at her, expression utterly without guilt. "Non, I wasn', an' I can't believe y'd ask me dat. I'm hurt."

"Now, Rem... Ya wouldn't be lying ta me, now, would ya?" She glared at him intently, searching for the truth.

"Don' let dis mess up our break t'get'er, chere..."

"You did it! Didn't you?! An' after Ah defended ya too!" She stood up abruptly, hands flying down to sit on her hips. Remy gulped and sank into the bed further.

"I didn' t'ink it was gon' blow up completely!"

"You know what ya're gonna hafta do now." She turned her back to him and sauntered to the door.

After a moment of staring at her behind sway, he brought himself back to the situation. "Oui.." he sighed. He stood up and followed her out the door. "Gotta warn y', dough. I'm a horrible cook."

"Raht," she responded uncaringly. "C'mon, Swamp Rat. Ya owe him." She tugged at his hand forcefully and he almost stumbled, but being the agile thief he was, caught himself. 'An' t' t'ink I wonder why de guys say I'm de bitch in dis relationship...' he sighed to himself as he trailed behind her.

The kitchen door swung open and Hank looked up in surprise. "And to what do I owe the honor?" He took in the rather despondent expression on Remy's face and the smile on Rogue's

"Remy's gonna help ya," Rogue told him with a breezy smile as she brushed off one of the counters with a paper towel and perched there, legs crossed. Remy immediately looked happier, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Rogue.

Hank scrutinized the grin that magically appeared on Remy's face. "Should I ask why he's suddenly perkier?"

Rogue smiled evilly. "He thinks he's gettin' some after he makes this up ta you." She didn't mind that Hank was her instructor. She had opened up about a lot in her time with the X-Men. And besides, thanks to the spying that took place earlier, she was sure everyone knew, so what's the harm in joking about it?

Beast looked slightly uncomfortable with the comment and turned to the freshly cleaned bowls and mixers. Remy just looked at her, worry edging in his crimson eyes. His expression asking "Y' mean I'm not?"

She matched his look with one of her own that said, "Now, what do ya think ya're gettin'?" When his face fell completely, she flashed him a smile that was easily read as "Now you're just assumin' the worst..." She shook her head, stifling a laugh. "What am Ah ta do with you?" She said aloud.

Hank looked back over his shoulder, his glance flicking between the two teens. "Did I miss something?"

Rogue stared at him, feigning innocence. "Not a thing. Get ta work, Remy." She smiled encouragingly and waved her hand in an imperious gesture.

"Oui, maƮtresse," he muttered.

"What was that, Swamp Rat?"

"Not'in'."

"No, Ah'm definately sure Ah heard ya say somet'in'." Rogue glared at him.

Hank, being smart man that he was, had already figured out that Remy was, in fact, the culprit and was most probably being forced to help him by Rogue. He debated the relative merits of revenge and smiled, not quite a reassuring sight with the fairly recent addition of fangs.

"Actually what he said was-" Remy gave him a pleading look. "Why so distressed, my Cajun friend? Do you not want our southern belle to know what you called her?"

'Payback is a bitch,' Remy thought with a wince.

"Ah'd greatly appreciate knowin' what he called me." Rogue gave Remy a significant look. Remy pretended not to see.

Hank grinned and handed him a measuring cup, changing the subject. "I need two cups of flour. Pour them into this bowl," he instructed, motioning to the needed items. Remy nodded and glanced back at Rogue. A triumphant smile lit up her face as she sipped from a mug of cocoa that had appeared while his back was turned. She almost choked on it while laughing to herself. Remy growled internally, not liking this one bit. He dipped the measuring cup into the flour, tapping it off so it was level and repeated the motion.

"Good job, Remy," Hank commented.

Rogue applauded behind him. "See, you can do this." She smiled patronisingly.

Remy flexed his hand to his side where Rogue couldn't see. Aching to do something stupid, just to see if he could royally piss her off, was very tempting. But would it ruin his break... He contemplated what would happen and decided with a smirk 'Eh, screw it!'

He turned and threw the contents with unerring accuracy, covering Rogue in the powdery white stuff. Then he did what any smart person would do. He ran.

Rogue let loose an enraged shriek, giving chase. "REMY!!!!"

"Oh dear," Hank muttered, dodging nimbly out of the way as Rogue flew full force at him.

"You are so gonna get it, Gumbo!" She growled, unknowingly using Logan's name for him.

Hearing that, Remy suddenly realized that that may not have been the smartest thing he'd ever done. Once again, he weighed some options in his head. If he were to stop, would Rogue mercilessly beat the shit out of him, or would he be able to flash his eyes at her as he'd done so many times before and get out of it? With a glance back he decided that running was the best thing for him... Rogue was quickly gaining on him.

She flew at him in a powdery cloud, most of the flour forced off with her speed. She saw Remy reach the front door and he swung it open completely, without bothering to look if someone was standing there. But in fact there was. It was the Brotherhood.

Remy managed to dodge to the side in time but Rogue was not so lucky. She hadn't discovered the concept of air brakes yet so going from high speed to a sudden stop was as yet beyond her abilities. She went slamming into Fred and bounced back, dazed even with her invulnerability.

"Ugh..." she moaned from the floor, shaking her head.

Pietro laughed. "Now that's not something you see everyday... The Rogue knocked flat on her ass..."

She glared from her position on the floor, eyes blaring green from underneath the layer of white.

"Looks like Roguey was playing in the kitchen, too," Todd taunted.

Remy stared at them in disbelief. "How did y' all get by de security?"

Fred stepped out of the way and Remy glanced through the door. It seemed as if everything had been disabled either by quick hands or a nice rumbling. Remy probably would have felt the ground shaking if he hadn't been running for his life.

Lance stepped over to Rogue and helped her up. She jerked her hand out of his once she was steady and continued glaring at all the boys in the room. She pointed at Remy. "You Ah'll deal with later." She swung around to point at the others. "An' what do y'all want?"

"Rogue... I'm hurt." Pietro walked up to her and placed a friendly arm around her shoulder. She stood perfectly still, waiting for him to give her a good reason to kick his ass. Otherwise, she'd let Remy take care of him.

"That doesn't explain shit, Speedy," Tabitha said, peeking finally from behind Fred. "We figured that since the rest of you X-Ge... People weren't gonna be around, we could take advantage of the extra food and such that would be left behind."

Rogue shrugged herself out from under Pietro's arm and stood next to Remy. "Just like that? You figured it was that easy?"

Todd nodded innocently.

"Why me?" she muttered, gazing upward.

Remy opened his mouth to answer, then thought better of it. He'd already pissed her off enough for one day. If he let her take out her bad mood on the Brotherhood he'd be that much farther ahead.

Rogue rose into the air slightly and spun quickly, shaking off all the flour onto the boys, snickering at their complaints.

"Hey!" Todd whined. "I actually showered to come to this place an' now I'm a mess again, yo!"

Lance pinched his nose. "It doesn't smell that much different, buddy."

Rogue just shook her head and couldn't believe what she was about to do. "Y'all can stay the day, Ah guess. Jus' please don't go nuts! Wouldn't it be nice if Xavier had something positive ta say about yoah attitudes?"

"Roguey went soft," Pietro teased, gaining a chuckle out of Fred and Lance.

Rogue's eyebrows rose at the comment. Remy shook his head, sighing and thinking. 'Baaaad idea.'

"Soft? You think Ah've gone soft?! Ah'll show you who's gone soft! Hmm... Now where did Kitty put the disks with those pictures?" Rogue frowned in thought. "I know she made several copies and took one with her... Oh! I know!" She flew off in the direction of the room she shared with the younger girl.

Remy just stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his face neutral. He watched as Tabby poked Pietro. "So this is the Cajun guy you saw Rogue in bed with, hmm?" She had a hint of lust in her eyes.

"Yup," he answered.

"You didn't mention anything about him being hot," she whispered, still staring at Remy.

Pietro stomped his foot. "All right! Contrary to popular belief, I'm straight! I like women! I would not notice suchathingdammit!" He pointed a finger at Remy. "Daniels started the rumors, didn't he? I'll kill him..."

Tabitha stroked his arm soothingly. "It's alright, Speedy. I love ya anyway."

Remy fought the urge to laugh at Pietro's outburst, and also to tell him that Evan HAD said stuff. It would be fun to see that fight.

Before he could say a thing, Rogue came soaring down the steps again. "Alraht. If ya would be so kind as ta follow me, you'll find out that the Rogue has, in fact, NOT gone soft." She growled the last word as if it were an immortal sin. The Brotherhood glanced at each other warily and made no move to follow her. She lighted gracefully and smiled, all sugary sweet. "What's wrong? Ya'll don't wanna see our little... project?" She smirked and sashayed up the stairs. The boys looked at each other, shrugged and followed.

They found Rogue sitting at a computer, with a list of files in front of her. "So what's this 'project' you wanted to show us, Rogue?" Lance asked.

"Well, your girlfriend DID help. She's gonna make a web page but didn't have time before she left." There was a decidedly evil smirk on her face.

Remy suddenly had a feeling where this was going. "Oh, y' didn'... Y' didn' take pictures, did y'? Have y' no mercy?"

She turned and stared blankly at him. "Remy, we've been through this so many times befoh. An' the answer is always the same: nope!" She faced the monitor again, waving the mouse. "Someone pick a file."

Lance shook his head at Remy, which the Cajun easily recognized as a degrading motion for 'whipped'. 'Dis has t' stop!' he internally huffed. Lance reached over Rogue's shoulder and pointed to a random picture on the screen. She doubled clicked it and a picture appeared within seconds.

"Oh my god!" Tabby cried, ushering herself closer to the screen.

The first picture happened to be Bobby dressed in drag, sans make-up. "That is seriously wacked!" Todd burst out.

Rogue smiled proudly. "Ah know." She sat back, looking like the cat that ate the canary.

Tabby grinned at her. "May I?" she asked gesturing toward the mouse.

"Go ahead," Rogue offered generously. The next picture was of Bobby in his Spider-Man underwear. "Now we had nothin' ta do with that one," she told the group.

"I saw that kid earlier!" Pietro exclaimed. He stole the mouse from Tabitha with lightning speed and clicked 'print'. It printed out a few seconds later (because of course the Institute has the best technological equipment) and he folded it neatly and placed it in his back pocket.

"Pietro, Ah'm surprised at you," Rogue said with narrowed eyes.

"What did I do?" he asked quizzically.

"You didn't make extra copies!" Fred answered for her. Rogue grinned at him and took the mouse back, proceeding to make another fifteen copies.

"Wouldn't want ta miss out on the vibrant colors that normal Xerox machines skip out on, raht?" Rogue smiled innocently. "Still think Ah'm soft?"

"I take it back," Pietro told her, holding up his hands defensively.

Tabby leaned forward and clicked again. It was a of the pictures of Bobby tied to the table in women's clothing and make-up. "Ooooh! Rogue you such a BAAAAAD girl! What are you doing with these Geeks again?"

"Let's see... Mystique lied through her teeth ta me... Living conditions are better..." She paused to smirk at Remy. "The view is extremely nice... Gee, I dunno..."

"Don't you think you'd fit in better with us, though?" she continued.

Rogue sighed. "Did ya come over ta spread some Christmas cheer or ta re-recruit me?"

"Sorry," she huffed. She glanced warily to the others and they just looked away whistling. They knew the story. Remy reached in and clicked on a photo, trying to break the tension that had suddenly stirred up. It was a picture of him, a nice zoom in on his backside.

"What's dis?!" He pointed at the screen.

"Umm..." Rogue examined it well, after casting a harsh glare at Tabby for drooling. "That was when you came down foh a drink." She smirked. "Couldn't help mahself..." A blush crept up her neck.

"I feel so violated..."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. That's like Tabby saying SHE feels violated."

"Hey!" Remy and Tabby responded in unison, glaring at Lance. The others laughed.

"Woah, you managed to piss off two people with one sentence. Go, Lance!" Fred said admiringly.

Rogue turned to glare at Lance as well. "What was that, Lance? You wanted humiliatin' pictures of yoahself, too? Ah have ways of gettin' 'em an' Ah have no problem showin' 'em ta yoah precious Kitty Kat." Lance gulped. "That's what Ah thought. Now, no more makin' fun o' Remy." A hmph came from Tabitha. "Fine, Tabby too." Tabby proceeded to stick her tongue out at Lance in triumph.

Todd snickered quietly again at Lance. "Mind if I click, yo?"

Rogue pushed the mouse towards him. "Be mah guest. Just don't -"

"I know, I know. This shit's expensive so I won't slime it. Geez." He clicked the mouse on yet another random file. The Bobby Ice Sculpture had now made its debut.

Fred covered his eyes. "Click it off, click it off!!!"

Todd was about to do so when Tabby slapped his hand away. "No! Keep it on, keep it on!!!"

Lance buried his head in his hands. "I'm not saying a word."

"I think yuck is appropriate," Pietro said with a grimace.

Remy grinned. "Y' wouldn' have said dat if y' say de statues de icecube made... of the girls."

"Okay, that is the last time Ah stick up foh you, EVAH again."

Remy pouted, eyes blazing at her with hidden messages. 'Wouldn' want her mad at me again.'

Rogue swallowed loudly and turned away. 'Must not let him pull that on me... It's the only thing that gets ta me...' Once she regained her composure, she swung the chair around and faced the group. Todd clicked the window shut since Rogue hadn't done so yet. Fred peeked through his hands at the sound and lowered them once it was clear. "Do Ah need ta prove anythin' else?"

"I think you're still the same old Rogue... with a bit of cayenne pepper these days," Pietro admitted, stealing a glance at Remy.

Her eyes narrowed. "Cute. Real cute. That's the kind o' 'cute' that can get ya in some real trouble..."

He rolled his eyes. "You'd have to catch me first."

"You think so?" Her smile widened. "Care to bet on it?"

"Um... no?"

"That's a good boy. Ah see yoah still the smart one of the house." Her eyes relaxed and she stood up. The boys took a generous step back, while Tabitha just stared at them like they were insane.

"What are you doin', Rogue?" Lance asked, putting his arms up to create a barrier between him and her.

Rogue opened her arms wide, to which Todd visibly winced at as if being hit, and grinned. "Ah missed you guys! Don't Ah even get a hug?" She pouted.

Tabby smacked her palm to her forehead. "These are the big, strong, manly men I live with... afraid of a girl."

"A girl with deadly skin and a literal kiss of death!" Pietro pointed out, from behind Fred.

Remy slunk up behind her. "Oh, I dunno, she's pretty kis-"

Rogue turned and poked Remy in the chest with her forefinger. "Ya still ain't outta the doghouse, Mistah, so don't ya be tryin' nothin'! And don't think I cain't find out what ya called me earlier, 'cause Ah will!" She turned back to the others. "So how about it? Where's mah Christmas hug?" She smiled slyly, particularly at Pietro.

"Aww, geez, why not." He stepped into her arms and wrapped her in a hug. Remy glared with heat at Rogue over Pietro's shoulder but that didn't last long. Suddenly, and quicker than Pietro imagined she could move, she had him in a headlock. He struggled a bit, but he was no match for her strength. The other boys backed up, knowing she was going to pull something like this. Tabitha just watched in pure admiration. "If you ever," she warned hotly, annunciating every word so her accent diminished. "Say I've gone soft again, don't plan on waking up... ever... if my hand comes near that perfect skin of yours." She dropped him abruptly and dusted her hands off on her pants.

"Ouch." Pietro mumbled on the floor, rubbing his neck where her sweater had burned into his skin.

"Well," Rogue started. "Hank's makin' cookies. Would ya like some?" Without waiting for a response, she skipped out of the room.

Remy warily followed, casting a glance back at the astonished Brotherhood. "Tis de season, mon amis. C'mon."

TBC...