Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or Evolution. I don't own the group REM
or any of their lyrics.
This story takes place right after the events of the "On Angels Wings" episode. It's a friendship story between Rogue and Scott. Not my first story written but it is my first posted one.
Author's notes
:denotes private thoughts:
I 'm sorry - I can't do accents real well so I decided not to butcher Rogue's thoughts and speech
Secret Santa
Chapter Two - Discovery of a Feather
Rogue woke up to her still darkened room and looked at her alarm clock - 2AM. Not morning yet she thought but her stomach rumbled mightily. She decided to grab some fruit from downstairs to tide her over till breakfast time. As she approached the main stairs, she still heard that same CD playing in Scott's room. Rogue wondered what cruel teacher had loaded him up with a project that would take this long.
In the kitchen, she checked the fruit compartment of the refrigerator and found some apples. She started munching one and grabbed another for Scott. She walked slowly back up and was just about finished with her apple as she got to Scott's door. "Hey night owl, whatcha up to?" she asked as she knocked on his door. There was no answer so she knocked harder and the door popped open. Scott was asleep on his bed but she noticed right away he wasn't under the covers.
Then she noticed the mounds of clutter all around his room. There were small piles of children's clothing and toys organized across the floor. One row had wrapped presents piled up with notes attached to them. The other two rows were full of items that appeared to be waiting to be wrapped - rolls of ribbon, holiday paper and tape were underfoot. She looked toward his desk and saw a stack of printouts by his PC. She hesitated unsure of what was going on.
She decided to take a peek at the pile by his printer. There was a master list containing children's names, clothing size and presents along with a pile of individually addressed notes to each child. The bottom paper was an email from the Smithtown orphanage.
The pieces of the puzzle all fit for her now. Rumor had it Scott had been in many orphanages before being rescued by the Professor. All these items in his room were for these kids on the list. She thought back to what Xavier said earlier about Scott always spending Christmas Eves at the Institute. The mission today put him behind his normal schedule of wrapping items on this night - a mission she volunteered them for.
Smithtown was the neighboring city to the not so nice side of Bayville. She could see how hard pressed an orphanage over there could be to get a sponsor for holiday presents.
Rogue's face suddenly flushed as she remembered teasing Scott about believing in angels when they stopped for lunch in the city diner. She turned and looked at the young man next to her as he slept. On the bed was a real life angel looking out for a group of kids who could easily be forgotten this time of year.
She glanced at the email from the orphanage and saw the note circled in red - 'As you know Scott the kids get up early on Christmas day, so if you could arrange the delivery around 6am we'll keep the kids busy till then.'
Rogue eyes shot to Scott's clock - now it was 2:20am. She saw there was still plenty of work to be done. Her gaze returned to Scott and she came to her decision.
She picked up the scissors and wrapping paper she found on the floor and moved to the end of one row of items. She scanned the master list and the last name not check marked matched the presents in this pile. :Mr. Organization strikes again: she smiled. She wrapped the presents and found a sheet with the boy's name that looked like a personal note from "Santa". The letter encouraged the boy to continue his good work at school and share his presents with his friends at the orphanage. She looked at one of the finished piles to attach the note as Scott had done. Each present had it's own label but was loose from the others for the same child. Rogue decided it would be better to use some thin ribbon to package the set of presents together. She checked off the boys name and moved to the next pile. This note was to a girl who had recently lost her parents. She decided the rest of the note would be to just too personal to read and attached it when she was done wrapping that set.
She tried to be quiet so she would not wake Scott. Then she noticed time was not in her favor so she began to wrap faster despite the noise she made. Scott must have been exhausted from the events yesterday like her since he never budged as she started into the remaining row of presents. She grimaced as she thought Scott would use his lack of stamina as an excuse for a new round of Danger Room exercises for everyone.
It was close to 5am as she finished the last present. Rogue jumped as Scott's alarm clock sounded off loud enough to be heard over that stupid CD that was still playing. She realized she was so focused on getting the wrapping done she forgot to change the CD to something she liked better. :If I have to hear that song one more time, somebody is surely gunna be hurtin':
Author's note - 'everybody hurts' by REM
Scott had bolted out of bed and began cursing a blue streak about a certain 'bucket head' and missed trains. Then he cursed himself for being so weak as to need a nap. He spun towards the presents and almost ran her over as Rogue thought to herself :Our little Boy Scout does know some four letter words after all.: "What are you doing in here?" Scott's question trailed off as he searched for the remaining work to be done. She could see his glasses tracing the two rows of presents she just wrapped and then he glanced at the scissors and tape in her hands. "You could have asked for help, you lug nut," her taunt had slipped out of her mouth before she realized it. Scott looked at the clock again and muttered, "Just might make it" as his stomach gurgled loudly. Rogue shook his arm as she looked at his pajamas and said, "You'd better get dressed, I'll warm up the van."
She grabbed a pile from the floor ran for the stairs. On the way down, she realized her idea of tying each child's set of packages in a ribbon made them easier to carry. She grabbed the keys to the van from the kitchen counter and made it to the garage without dropping any of the precious cargo.
She opened the trunk and threw in the presents. She opened the garage door and drove the van to the front entrance. She was glad Logan had taken it upon himself to teach her some basic driving skills to handle the van around the Institute grounds - she remembered him growling something about watching the boys play street car racing video games and declaring only the women would ever drive any X vehicle if he had any say in it. She turned the van heater on full blast after glancing at the dash clock - it was now 5:15am. She thought about how far Smithtown was - a good half hour she guessed. She ran upstairs and found Scott dressed and heading out with a new pile. After a few more trips, the van was ready to leave.
Scott jumped into the driver's seat as Rogue slammed the trunk shut. She ran to the passenger door and jumped in. Scott looked at her and said, "You don't have to come if you'd rather sleep in." "And miss out on those brats tearing apart my beautifully wrapping creations.. Just drive", she said handing him his apple from last night she had stashed in her coat.
Scott took the apple from her and devoured it quickly as he drove out the mansion entrance towards the main crossroads. She could tell he was focused on finding the quickest way across town in the speediest fashion without drawing any police attention.
Please read and review: Send any and all grammar corrections please. Story is complete - last chapter coming after this
This story takes place right after the events of the "On Angels Wings" episode. It's a friendship story between Rogue and Scott. Not my first story written but it is my first posted one.
Author's notes
:denotes private thoughts:
I 'm sorry - I can't do accents real well so I decided not to butcher Rogue's thoughts and speech
Secret Santa
Chapter Two - Discovery of a Feather
Rogue woke up to her still darkened room and looked at her alarm clock - 2AM. Not morning yet she thought but her stomach rumbled mightily. She decided to grab some fruit from downstairs to tide her over till breakfast time. As she approached the main stairs, she still heard that same CD playing in Scott's room. Rogue wondered what cruel teacher had loaded him up with a project that would take this long.
In the kitchen, she checked the fruit compartment of the refrigerator and found some apples. She started munching one and grabbed another for Scott. She walked slowly back up and was just about finished with her apple as she got to Scott's door. "Hey night owl, whatcha up to?" she asked as she knocked on his door. There was no answer so she knocked harder and the door popped open. Scott was asleep on his bed but she noticed right away he wasn't under the covers.
Then she noticed the mounds of clutter all around his room. There were small piles of children's clothing and toys organized across the floor. One row had wrapped presents piled up with notes attached to them. The other two rows were full of items that appeared to be waiting to be wrapped - rolls of ribbon, holiday paper and tape were underfoot. She looked toward his desk and saw a stack of printouts by his PC. She hesitated unsure of what was going on.
She decided to take a peek at the pile by his printer. There was a master list containing children's names, clothing size and presents along with a pile of individually addressed notes to each child. The bottom paper was an email from the Smithtown orphanage.
The pieces of the puzzle all fit for her now. Rumor had it Scott had been in many orphanages before being rescued by the Professor. All these items in his room were for these kids on the list. She thought back to what Xavier said earlier about Scott always spending Christmas Eves at the Institute. The mission today put him behind his normal schedule of wrapping items on this night - a mission she volunteered them for.
Smithtown was the neighboring city to the not so nice side of Bayville. She could see how hard pressed an orphanage over there could be to get a sponsor for holiday presents.
Rogue's face suddenly flushed as she remembered teasing Scott about believing in angels when they stopped for lunch in the city diner. She turned and looked at the young man next to her as he slept. On the bed was a real life angel looking out for a group of kids who could easily be forgotten this time of year.
She glanced at the email from the orphanage and saw the note circled in red - 'As you know Scott the kids get up early on Christmas day, so if you could arrange the delivery around 6am we'll keep the kids busy till then.'
Rogue eyes shot to Scott's clock - now it was 2:20am. She saw there was still plenty of work to be done. Her gaze returned to Scott and she came to her decision.
She picked up the scissors and wrapping paper she found on the floor and moved to the end of one row of items. She scanned the master list and the last name not check marked matched the presents in this pile. :Mr. Organization strikes again: she smiled. She wrapped the presents and found a sheet with the boy's name that looked like a personal note from "Santa". The letter encouraged the boy to continue his good work at school and share his presents with his friends at the orphanage. She looked at one of the finished piles to attach the note as Scott had done. Each present had it's own label but was loose from the others for the same child. Rogue decided it would be better to use some thin ribbon to package the set of presents together. She checked off the boys name and moved to the next pile. This note was to a girl who had recently lost her parents. She decided the rest of the note would be to just too personal to read and attached it when she was done wrapping that set.
She tried to be quiet so she would not wake Scott. Then she noticed time was not in her favor so she began to wrap faster despite the noise she made. Scott must have been exhausted from the events yesterday like her since he never budged as she started into the remaining row of presents. She grimaced as she thought Scott would use his lack of stamina as an excuse for a new round of Danger Room exercises for everyone.
It was close to 5am as she finished the last present. Rogue jumped as Scott's alarm clock sounded off loud enough to be heard over that stupid CD that was still playing. She realized she was so focused on getting the wrapping done she forgot to change the CD to something she liked better. :If I have to hear that song one more time, somebody is surely gunna be hurtin':
Author's note - 'everybody hurts' by REM
Scott had bolted out of bed and began cursing a blue streak about a certain 'bucket head' and missed trains. Then he cursed himself for being so weak as to need a nap. He spun towards the presents and almost ran her over as Rogue thought to herself :Our little Boy Scout does know some four letter words after all.: "What are you doing in here?" Scott's question trailed off as he searched for the remaining work to be done. She could see his glasses tracing the two rows of presents she just wrapped and then he glanced at the scissors and tape in her hands. "You could have asked for help, you lug nut," her taunt had slipped out of her mouth before she realized it. Scott looked at the clock again and muttered, "Just might make it" as his stomach gurgled loudly. Rogue shook his arm as she looked at his pajamas and said, "You'd better get dressed, I'll warm up the van."
She grabbed a pile from the floor ran for the stairs. On the way down, she realized her idea of tying each child's set of packages in a ribbon made them easier to carry. She grabbed the keys to the van from the kitchen counter and made it to the garage without dropping any of the precious cargo.
She opened the trunk and threw in the presents. She opened the garage door and drove the van to the front entrance. She was glad Logan had taken it upon himself to teach her some basic driving skills to handle the van around the Institute grounds - she remembered him growling something about watching the boys play street car racing video games and declaring only the women would ever drive any X vehicle if he had any say in it. She turned the van heater on full blast after glancing at the dash clock - it was now 5:15am. She thought about how far Smithtown was - a good half hour she guessed. She ran upstairs and found Scott dressed and heading out with a new pile. After a few more trips, the van was ready to leave.
Scott jumped into the driver's seat as Rogue slammed the trunk shut. She ran to the passenger door and jumped in. Scott looked at her and said, "You don't have to come if you'd rather sleep in." "And miss out on those brats tearing apart my beautifully wrapping creations.. Just drive", she said handing him his apple from last night she had stashed in her coat.
Scott took the apple from her and devoured it quickly as he drove out the mansion entrance towards the main crossroads. She could tell he was focused on finding the quickest way across town in the speediest fashion without drawing any police attention.
Please read and review: Send any and all grammar corrections please. Story is complete - last chapter coming after this