Disclaimer: I own none of the characters within.

Author's Notes: Eek! It's December! That means Christmas is… soon… I'm so happy! That means our local lite rock radio station is now playing Christmas music 24/7! And that means I can hear 'Feliz Navidad' to my heart's content!

*ahem*

So yes. I'm SO bad at updating. But I need to promise you all now: this story will never die. Ever. I may be slow at updating, but it will never die until it is over and has a definite ending plus epilogue. ^_^

So now. ANGST. Ten points to anyone who KNOWS where Pietro's little song is from, and as for the next chapter, it will be in ROGUE'S POV! Yay!

~

Put one foot in front of the other.

Isn't that a song?

Yes, something to focus on.

Put one foot in front of the other and… then… you'll be walking 'cross the floor…

Tiny claymation figures danced and sang the ridiculous little song in Pietro's head, swaying and laughing and shuffling through snow. It was one of those old Christmas specials. But which? Which which which which ha ha ha…

He paused on the road, stiff, listening.

He heard laughter.

It wasn't him that heard it, of course. He was hearing it through Wanda. Part of him was wounded that they could be having such a good time without him, but the majority of him was glad that his sister would have a chance to laugh.

If, that is, they could crack through her shell.

The laughter stopped, just a brief burst of sound and then that same unnatural silence.

Damn.

A thousand clips of songs raced through his head in an instant, but he managed to snatch out the right one and chanted it softly to himself as he shuffled down the lonely winter road.

"Put one foot in front of the other and… soon you'll be… walking out the door…"

~

Laughter always fades away. The joke suddenly seems not that funny, or the situation becomes too grim to keep chuckling like an idiot.

Scott stopped first. He abruptly realized just whom exactly he was laughing with and why they were here, and it just wasn't as humorous as it had been. His facial expression became neutral and he took a bite from his sandwich like it was the most important thing in the world.

Jean followed suit, naturally, and once the Professor sensed their grimness his own smile died away. Everyone else pretty much stopped laughing at the same instant, save for Todd, who took a sharp nudge from Freddy before he quieted down.

Someone cleared their throat. No eye contact was made.

Then there was a screeching sound as Rogue shoved her chair away from the table and stalked from the room, torn between two worlds.

Lance and Scott rose to pursue her at the same time, and while the Brotherhood leader managed to take off, Scott found his arm being snagged by Jean, who dragged him back down into his seat with a hiss of "It's not your place!"

Todd and Fred stared after their leader and former teammates, while Wanda had closed her hands about her eyes again and saw only darkness.

~

"Rogue! Wait up!"

She had wanted Logan to follow her. Maybe even the Professor. Hell, she would've rather let Jean comfort her now. Instead, she heard Lance's voice calling after her, spurring her to walk faster.

"Hey! Rogue! Stop!"

Heavy footsteps accelerated, bringing him in front of her. She tried to dart around him, but he caught her upper arms and stopped her in her tracks, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"What's wrong?" he probed gently.

She glanced away from him guiltily, unsure how to explain this… this… turmoil. He tried again, using some nickname of hers that he remembered from her Brotherhood days.

"C'mon, Rogue," he chided. "What could possibly be bothering the Belle of Bayville?"

Half a sob, half a laugh, the sound that came out of her was a welcome show of emotion. Both of them pointedly avoided the fact that it was Pietro who had given her that nickname. Instead, she sighed and relaxed in his grip.

"It's… well, it's just that…" Searching for words, she was finding none. "It feels so strange to be with both of you, the X-Men and the Brotherhood… ya gotta understand, when I left you guys it was either/or, and I was sure I would never get to talk to you again without fighting you."

"Which you haven't."

"But now I am!" she persisted, frustrated. "And I wasn't ready for this. I don't know how I should act. I don't know if they'll be mad at me if I get too familiar with you guys. But I don't want you boys to be hurt, neither, cause I really do care for ya'll. You were my first brothers."

"And you were our sister."

"Yeah, well, you got a new sister now."

"Hey, it's not a single position. We'll always have room for you, Rogue, if you want to come back."

"Sometimes…" she confessed softly. "I want nothing more than to be able to do that."

"So why don't you?" he cried, delighted. "We'd be happy to have you and—"

"But I can't, Lance! I can't! If I turned my back on the X-Men now, after all they've done for me, what would that look like? I don't want to be branded as a traitor. I can't imagine how it would be to live like that, with everyone afraid of me running off again. It just wouldn't be worth it. I could never go back to them after something like that."

"Pietro came back to us."

Even as he said it, Lance realized how brave Pietro had been to return to his brothers, even when they were all sure to hate him like they did. He could have stayed with his new teammates, but as the speedster himself had once commented, they were all "too scary, too big, too insane, or too damn cocky to stand".

Pietro had known where he belonged, and he had walked through the fire of their initial fury to get back to them. That took guts.

Seeing the distant look in his eye, Rogue brought him back to the present with a gloved pat on the cheek.

"Hey, Lance?" she said softly. "You there?"

"Hmm?" He shook his head to clear it. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm here."

I think.

But these last two words of doubt he kept in his own private thoughts, forcing on his best grin for her.

"I'm the leader," he reminded her. "And it's my job to protect my teammates. All of them." Running a hand through her hair, he added, "And that includes you."

She smiled faintly, gratefully, and he kissed her fingertips with brotherly affection.

"That's my girl," he grinned.

"You big goof." She nudged him. "How could anyone keep up a good sulk around you?"

"Well, when we're out of food, you'd be surprised how resilient Fred is to my witty charms."

Laughter. He turned to go back to the dining room, but she lingered back.

"You coming?"

"Yeah." She lied. "I'll be right there."

He nodded and disappeared through the doorway. With his back turned, he didn't see her grimace and touch a hand to her temple.

~

However, in the dining room, all was not order. Lance entered and found everyone sitting in uncomfortable silence, while at the same time he felt the waves of energy roiling off a peeved telepath. Jean was eating with stiff, angry movements while Scott was just sitting there, staring at the table.

Finally, Jean excused herself politely and strolled from the room. Scott gave the Professor a brief look, searching for something, and not finding it he, too, left the group in the same direction.

Logan chuckled gruffly.

"All right, who's the next couple to bolt?"

Wanda herself had been considering a hasty exit, but at this point Todd would probably have chased after her for the couple aspect. She settled for slumping crossly in her seat.

~

Out in the hall, Jean spun on Scott with an impatient, "What?"

"You were way outta line back there, Jean." He said, and would have continued had not she interrupted him.

"No, Scott, I think you were the one out of line. It wasn't your place to chase after them."

"But I'm supposed to be the leader! And the leader is supposed to protect his teammates!"

"Protect? Protect from what? Lance? He wanted to help her!"

"It's not his choice anymore. She's an X-Man, she has us now."

"Did it ever occur to you that she might actually like those boys?"

He was about to fire off a retort but he was suddenly silenced. Actually, it hadn't occurred to him, but he would never admit it. Instead, he flailed for an excuse.

"If she likes them so much, why is she with us?"

"Scott, you were there! How can you not understand it from her point of view? She had just found out how she had been tricked and lied to! I would have switched sides too!"

"Still, she hasn't talked to these guys in months, except to fight with them. Where did you find the idea that it was Lance she wanted to talk to now?"

"Why else would she have left the table?"

Again, Scott was stumped. He summoned up a thousand different reasons, but none of them valid or suiting the present situation.

"Look, Jean," he said at last. "I know you mean well, but these guys… these guys are—"

"What? What's so wrong with them, Scott? They're bad? They're mean? They're a couple of kids that got offered an easy way out of whatever hellhole they were living in and took it?"

"No, it's just—"

"You don't even know, do you, Scott? You're set against them because you don't know how else to react. That sounds pretty bigoted to me."

"Fine!" He exploded. "You tell me how to act around the guys I've been fighting ever since I met them! Want me to curtsy, offer them some tea and crumpets?"

"Don't be ridiculous." She hissed. "I just wish you could find it in yourself to treat them with a little civility."

"Fine." He repeated darkly.

"Fine!" she echoed, aware of the immaturity and not caring. "I'm going upstairs."

She swept away, leaving him standing there with his arms crossed and a deep frown on his face.

~