Category: Holiday
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine. If Wolverine was, I might never let him out to play.
Spoilers/Continuity: X1
Author's Notes: Here's hoping everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! I know it's a bit late for a Christmas story, but I was very sick the week leading up to Christmas and couldn't write. Special thanks to Jenn for helping me kick around ideas for this one!
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Jubilee stuck her Santa hat-covered head through the doorway to the room she shared with Kitty and Rogue.
"You coming, chicas?"
Rogue scraped the blade of a pair of scissors along a piece of red ribbon. It made an odd, almost ripping sound but resulted in a very curly, pretty ribbon. She gave the wrapped gift the ribbon was decorating one last pat before depositing it in her laundry basket with the rest of the gifts she had spent the afternoon wrapping.
Tucking her white streak behind her ear with the rest of her auburn locks, Rogue looked up and said, "Done!"
"Fi-nally," Kitty sighed dramatically.
Jubilee laughed. A couple weeks before, Kitty had spent just as much time gift-wrapping Hanukah gifts for her friends. She and Rogue had given Kitty a hard time then about how long she had taken, knowing full well their turn was soon to come.
Smiling to show she was kidding, Kitty grabbed one handle of Rogue's basket to help the other young woman carry the gifts downstairs to the tree in the rec room.
Jubilee and Kitty helped Rogue distribute the presents under the tree. When Jubilee came across an envelope with 'Logan' written in a delicate script, she held it up for Rogue to see.
"All you got Wolvie was a card?" Jubilee asked, surprise showing in her voice.
Jean and Scott were sitting on the couch near the girls, and they looked at Rogue as Jubilee asked her question. Kitty, too, waited expectantly for Rogue's answer. The young woman who had only recently learned to control her deadly skin blushed. Jubilee wasn't sure if it was the result of everyone staring at her, or the fact that it was the Wolverine they were talking about.
"Of course not," Rogue said softly after a few moments. "I had the Professor hold onto Logan's gift for me. I didn't want the surprise ruined by him smelling it, so the card has a note in it about what the gift is and where to pick it up."
"What did you get him?" Kitty piped in.
Rogue glanced at Jean, who concentrated for a second before saying, "It's okay, he's on his way from the garage, he won't hear yet."
"I had Professor Xavier order some good cigars, and I got him a new leather jacket; his is wearing out."
Scott whistled in appreciation, and Jubilee shared a significant look with Kitty. Rogue shrugged, obviously uncomfortable with their reaction.
Bobby, St. John and Ororo arrived in the room; Professor Xavier and Logan joining the group last a few minutes later. Though lights and tinsel had been put on the tree the previous night, ornaments still needed to be hung. The tree was so big they'd had to split the decorating into two nights.
With snacks laid out and Christmas music playing in the background, the group set to work hanging ornaments. Jean took care of the top of the ten foot tree where no one could reach by telekinetically levitating the tree's star and some of the ornaments. Bobby started to decorate some of the lower branches with icicles until Ororo asked if he would be maintaining a constant vigilance to make sure none of them melted onto the hardwood floor. With a sheepish grin, Bobby broke off the three he had created and tossed them out a window into the snow outside.
Jubilee kept an eye on Rogue and Logan, noting that they each stayed close to the other without being too obvious about it. Rogue smiled much more around the gruff, hairy man than she did around anyone else, and everyone in the mansion knew there was no one that the Wolverine had let closer than Rogue. He had almost given his life for her already, and Jubilee was pretty sure he'd do it again without a second thought. So why didn't they admit how they felt and get together?
"Because neither one knows how the other feels and they aren't willing to risk losing the relationship that means the most to them," Professor Xavier quietly answered her mental question.
Just then one of the younger students came into the room and waved to Rogue. Rogue smiled and waved back and said good-bye to everyone. Jubilee knew Rogue had agreed to take some of the younger kids caroling tonight. A minute or two after Rogue had left, Logan mumbled something about his bike needing work and left too.
"Anyone in the mood for a Christmas project?" Jubilee asked the room.
Kitty, Bobby and St. John eyed Jubilee warily, familiar with her previous "projects" and some of their less than stellar results. Jean and Professor Xavier looked thoughtful, as if already considering what Jubilee had planned. But Scott was the one to verbally respond to the bait.
"What do you have in mind?" he asked.
"We need to get Rogue and Wolvie to admit their feelings for each other. How better to ignite passion during the holidays than a kiss under the mistletoe?" Jubilee said.
"But we already have mistletoe hanging in a few places around the mansion and they both avoid it," Kitty pointed out.
Jean responded, "That's because, for different reasons, of course, kissing means more to Rogue and Logan than it does to other people. They wouldn't want to be forced to kiss someone just because of a plant."
Jubilee chewed thoughtfully on her thumbnail and sighed, "I guess that won't work then."
Surprisingly, Scott was the one who said, "No, I think it could work if we plan carefully enough."
"I think I'll leave the planning to you young people," Professor Xavier said with a fond smile.
As the Professor wheeled out of the room, the others set about coming up with a strategy.
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Bobby was first at bat. He leaned against the wall n the hall that led to the main dining area until Rogue and Logan walked passed him. He followed them carefully, not so close that Logan would get jumpy.
Just as the other two came to the turn in the hallway, Rogue wrapped her arms around herself and asked, "Is it just me or did it get forty degrees colder all of a sudden?"
"It ain't just you," Logan answered, whipping around toward Bobby.
But it was already too late. Bobby had put up a thick wall of ice to block them from coming back his way. And just around the corner was the wall he had put up earlier to box them in.
Bobby jumped at the unmistakable sound of the Wolverine unleashing his claws. There were a few strange sounds before the unmistakable one of ice breaking reached his ears. He brought down part of the ice wall on his side to see that Wolverine had knocked out part of the other and had apparently left through the resulting hole. Rogue was still in the small space, frowning.
Rogue shook her head at Bobby's confounded look.
"Never try to cage the Wolverine," she told him.
As she walked away, Bobby was left to wonder if either one of them had noticed the sprig of mistletoe hanging above their heads while they were walled in by his ice.
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Jean waited until Rogue and Logan were playing pool in the rec room that afternoon to take her turn. She levitated a sprig of mistletoe above Logan's head as he waited for Rogue to take her shot. Right on cue, Jubilee squealed.
"Oh, look, Rogue!" she said, pointing above Logan's head.
Rogue looked. But instead of looking hesitant, shy, or even happy or eager, she got angry. She strode quickly across the room to return her pool cue to the rack before turning toward the door.
"Go for it, Jean," she practically hissed. "But don't expect me to watch. I never thought you'd do something like that to Scott."
Then she was gone. Jean groaned and let the sprig fall. Logan batted it away and glared at the two women.
"I don't know what you people are up to, but leave Rogue out of it," Logan growled. "And Jean, I don't think you were going for that, but if you were, I wouldn't have kissed you anyway."
He, too, left the room in a fine huff. Jubilee flopped down on the sofa next to Jean and sighed.
"I can't believe she thought I was doing that for me," Jean said.
"Well, Wolvie did have a little thing for you when they first came here," Jubilee observed. "She probably feared that you had finally reciprocated."
"But whatever that was, he moved passed it a long time ago. Doesn't she know that?"
Jubilee sighed again. "I guess not."
After a silent moment, Jean asked, "Whose turn is it next?"
"Kitty and Storm," Jubilee answered.
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Storm met Logan and Rogue as they were walking to the dining room for lunch the next day. Rogue stiffened and gazed at her as if trying to stare through her.
"What is it?" Storm asked when Logan also looked at her oddly.
"Do you have any of that infernal plant on you?" Logan growled.
"I can assure you I do not," Storm promised.
Rogue and Logan both relaxed and allowed Storm to walk with them. When they were about to walk past the designated spot, Storm concentrated on her powers so that the tiny cloud she had left floating beside Kitty in the hallway on the second floor would disappear. The pre-chosen signal worked and Kitty phased her hand, holding a piece of mistletoe, through the floor so that it was above Rogue and Logan's unsuspecting heads.
Logan stopped in his tracks, his nostrils flaring slightly.
"I smell the runt," he said gruffly.
He looked up and grunted. Rogue looked up as well, and Storm glanced up to make it appear that she had nothing to do with what was happening. Rogue was now facing Logan under the mistletoe.
Storm watched, her breath held, as something flashed in Rogue's eyes. It looked like hunger, like desire. But Rogue turned away, muttered, "I'm not hungry", and headed for her room.
Logan swore colorfully and turned to go after her. But he faltered and headed in the direction of the garage instead.
Storm looked up at Kitty's face sticking out from the ceiling. The younger woman grimaced slightly.
"Guess it didn't work, huh?"
"It most certainly did not," Storm answered. "I am beginning to believe we may be going about this the wrong way."
Kitty phased the rest of the way through the floor to land lightly on her feet beside Storm. Together they headed for the dining room.
"Just don't let Jubes hear you say that," Kitty warned.
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Scott watched from the observation booth as below him in the Danger Room Rogue and Logan stretched in preparation for their daily training session. They didn't stand as close as they usually did, and Scott frowned in concern. What if everyone in the mansion was wrong, what if Rogue and Logan didn't really love each other?
But Scott shook his head in answer to his own silent question. The Professor was aware of all their little plans to get the two together, and Scott knew Xavier wouldn't let them do any of it if the feelings they all believed Rogue and Logan had for each other weren't there.
Scott had left the intercom on so he could hear them, and when Logan turned to Rogue and asked, "You ready, kid?", Scott smiled. Showtime. Rogue nodded.
Logan called up the program he always used when training with Rogue, but instead of a New York street filled with FOH members and Sentinels, he and Rogue found themselves in a forest. One made entirely of mistletoe.
A sound caught between a sob and a laugh escaped Rogue. Snikt. Logan unleashed his claws and took a few futile swipes at the plants, but Scott had programmed them to be simple, intangible holograms.
A feral roar from Logan caused the hair on the back of Scott's neck to stand up, and he realized with dread that Logan had been pushed too far. He discontinued the program and quickly began making his way to the door to the Danger Room, hoping to calm Logan by apologizing.
Just as he got there, Rogue ran out. Logan was right behind , moving only slightly slower than Rogue. He stopped when he saw Scott.
Snarling, Logan lifted Scott into the air by his collar.
"Listen, bub. Rogue doesn't want to kiss me, and I don't want to kiss her. The next person who tries to get us under the mistletoe is going to have three new holes, you got me?"
Scott nodded furiously when Logan held his claws near Scott's face. With another growl, Logan dropped him and stalked down the hall.
Shaken, Scott went and told the others of Logan's threat.
"I guess we can forget about trying to scare Rogue into Wolvie's arms by pretending to lose control of our powers," Jubilee said to St. John.
"Guess so," he agreed glumly, for once not flicking his lighter open and shut.
"Don't give up hope just yet," Professor Xavier said as he came into view. "Just hold off on your... creative ideas for a little while and let me try."
"What are you going to do, Professor?" Storm asked curiously.
"And the truth shall set you free," he quoted, smiling.
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Logan watched Marie across the room at dinner. Because the students with families had left for the holiday, there were plenty of empty tables in the dining hall, and Marie had come in late, choosing to sit away from everyone. She looked tired, as if the 'mistletoe ordeal', as he had dubbed it, had her just as sleepless as it did him. Though it had been almost a full day since anyone had tried to make them kiss one another, they had been avoiding each other.
Logan missed her already.
It wasn't that he didn't want to kiss her as he had falsely told the others. He just didn't want to be forced to do something she obviously didn't want. As much as he loved her, he knew he could never reveal his feelings to her. She didn't see him that way. And he would never willingly put what they did have in jeopardy. Being close to her as her best friend was much better than not being near her at all.
Marie suddenly lifted her head to look straight at him. They stared into each other's eyes for long moments before Marie's gaze drifted away and fixed on something. She blushed and looked back down.
Following the path Marie's eyes had taken with his own, Logan noted the sprig of mistletoe under the archway leading to the main hall. The idea of dragging her over there and kissing her was so tempting that Logan felt a shiver slide down his spine. But he didn't want to push her away by showing his desire for her when it was obviously something she didn't want. Suddenly, his mind was filled with an image similar to his own desire, this one of Marie coaxing him under the plant and kissing him.
Marie wanted to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss her! And neither one of them had ever said anything for the same reason: they were too afraid of losing each other. For once, Logan wasn't even upset about the intrusion into his brain from the Professor. His desire to find and strangle the person who had come up with this plan increased, however. Why hadn't the Professor just done his thing first instead of putting them through all those obstacles?
Logan looked at Marie again. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears, but she was smiling directly at him. Logan stood and made his way across the room, Marie meeting him halfway.
"What he showed me… is that really how you feel?" Marie asked softly, confirming that his fantasy had also been communicated to her.
Knowing all eyes were on them, and for once not caring, Logan answered, "It really is, darlin."
Then he dipped his head and brushed her lips with his own. Her lips were pliant, warm and soft, and the kiss was better than he had ever dreamed. Marie was his, and she was in his arms. Needing to deepen their embrace but not wanting to put on any more of a show than they already had, Logan slowly pulled away.
When they pulled apart, everyone in the room but Marie, Logan and Xavier broke out in applause and cheers. Professor Xavier simply smiled and inclined his head slightly to acknowledge Logan's silent thanks.
As he and Marie left the dining room, Logan heard Jubilee say in an exasperated voice, "All that work with the mistletoe, and what do they do? Stand in the middle of the room and kiss!"
Feeling more generous than he had in a very long time, Logan pulled Marie directly under the plant on the way out of the room, giving her a quick but passionate kiss.
"Thank you!" He heard Jubilee yell as he and Marie made their way down the hall.
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"See," Jubilee said later that night when the conspirators had met. "I told you it would work!"
Kitty snorted, and Bobby rolled his eyes. St. John laughed and Scott, Jean and Ororo smiled. Jubilee produced a sprig of mistletoe from behind her back and held it aloft in front of her.
"I think the one who actually made the plan work should get a reward," she announced.
Professor Xavier said, "I think everyone has had more than enough mistletoe to last until next year, Jubilee."
The vivacious Asian shook her head and made her way to his side, holding the sprig over his head. Jean, Ororo and Kitty also got up and stood with her, two on either side of his wheelchair.
"Merry Christmas, Professor," all four women chorused.
They leaned in to kiss him, Kitty and Jubilee on his cheeks, and Jean and Ororo on his bald head. The other men in the room whistled and let loose cat calls more appropriate to a peep show.
Professor Xavier just smiled, his dark eyes twinkling.
The End.