A/N: As I indicated in the summary, this story ties in to Willow Edmond's Miracle Of Lights. I would strongly recommend that you go read it before you read this story, because it will really help you understand what is going on. But more importantly, you should read it because Willow is an absolutely fantastic writer, and you are missing out if you don't check out her stories. If you are new to Willow's work, I suggest you begin with Chasing The Moonlight and then just work your way through her whole Cinnamon series. But beware. Once you start, you won't want to stop until you've read all the way through to the end.

'Tis the Season… For Sweet Revenge

Seth hadn't been planning it really. He had just been on the lookout for an appropriate opportunity to present itself. Okay, so that was a lie. He had totally been planning it. He had been plotting his revenge ever since he had found out about that embarrassing video getting posted to YouTube. And tonight he was going to get it.

Phase one was simple enough. He just needed to get Dean and Roman drunk. Amazingly, stupidly drunk. Now usually Seth, Dean, and Roman avoided hanging out together in public in deference to current WWE storylines, but work was already taking them away from their families on these special days right after Christmas; they weren't going to let it prevent them from having a good time together as well. Kayfabe be damned.

Getting Dean and Roman to drink too much was embarrassingly easy. All Seth had to say was, "Hey guys, tonight the drinks are on me." He told them it was their Christmas present… which was half true. It was a Christmas present. It just wasn't a present for them. It was Seth's Christmas present for himself. They didn't even question his eagerness to be designated driver. They just plowed forward obliviously, determined to make the most of Seth's unexpected generosity.

Surprisingly, phase two turned out to be even simpler than phase one had been. Seth had originally planned to orchestrate an "accidental" spill of a pitcher of beer to ruin his brothers' clothing, but Roman took care of the matter himself instead by suggesting an impromptu midnight swim. "It's not everyday that we're in Miami for Christmas after all," Roman had argued. Seth had agreed wholeheartedly. And once they were at the beach and had stripped down to just their boxers, it was a simple matter indeed for Dean's and Roman's clothes to accidentally end up a little too close to the incoming tide. Seth being infinitely more sober, reasonably placed his own clothing far from the ocean's shore. He also made sure to move Dean's and Roman's shoes, wallets, and phones away from the waves' grasp. He wasn't completely evil after all.

The midnight swim turned out to be quite idyllic. If given the choice, Seth would have of course preferred to spend the day after Christmas with Kayla and Payton, but that had not been an option. And the twinkling of the city lights, the warm night air, the fresh salty breeze, and the companionship of his two best friends was pretty much the best alternative he could ask for under the circumstances. The knowledge that payback would soon be his was simply icing on the cake.

After thirty minutes or so of goofing around and goodnatured roughhousing, Seth began to urge the other two back to the shore. It had been a late night already, and they still had to travel tomorrow.

"Hey, where are my clothes?" Dean yelled as he stumbled back onto the beach.

"Yeah, mine're missing too," Roman slurred, tripping over an invisible obstacle in the sand.

Seth bit his lip as he surveyed his brothers weaving up and down the beach searching for their lost clothing. Okay, so letting them swim in the ocean at night in their condition probably hadn't been the brightest idea in the world, but all's well that ends well, right? He hurriedly pulled his t-shirt and jeans over his wet skin and pocketed the others' phones and wallets. He was really regretting his lack of a towel. The salt water had left his skin feeling sticky, and his jeans were clinging uncomfortably to his wet legs. "Hey, I don't know about everything else, but your shoes are up here," he called helpfully. Roman and Dean staggered back to where Seth was standing. "Sorry to break it to you guys, but I think your clothes are gone," Seth said, handing them their shoes. "Come on. Maybe there's something in the car you can wear for the ride back.

When they reached the car, Seth made a big show of diligently searching for dry attire knowing all the while what he would find. He smirked as he popped open the trunk. "Uh, I've got something you can wear in here, but I don't think you're gonna like it," he called out.

Roman and Dean crowded around the trunk. "What the hell is that?" Dean asked, his lip curling in disgust.

"The elf costumes Kofi, Xavier, and Big E wore in that WWE Shop vignette the other night. I guess they haven't returned them to the wardrobe department yet," Seth explained vaguely. The truth was that Seth had borrowed the costumes from his current travelling companions a week ago, but his brothers didn't need to know that. They would figure out the truth soon enough.

Roman crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. "If you think I'm gonna wear that then you have lost your damned mind."

"Yeah, We'll just ride back like this," Dean agreed, reaching for the door handle.

Seth stopped him, pressing the button on the keychain to relock all the doors. "If you think I'm gonna drive you back to the hotel wet, sandy, drunk, and nearly naked, then you've got another thing coming. Now I can't do anything about the drunk part, but wet, sandy, and nearly naked are issues that can be remedied. Just put on the damn costumes already, and let's get back to the hotel."

Roman and Dean stared at him belligerently. "No way in hell, man," Roman growled.

Seth shrugged. "Fine. Walk home."

"Oh, come on," Dean whined. "You wouldn't do us like that."

"My car. My rules," Seth stated firmly.

After a long staredown in which neither Dean nor Roman reached for the costumes, Seth shrugged again and slammed the trunk closed. "Have it your way. See you in a couple of hours." He climbed into the car and turned the key.

Roman and Dean watched in horror as the reverse lights lit up. Seth was really going to leave them there to walk back to the hotel in nothing but their shoes and boxer shorts. "Wait!" Roman yelled, waving his arms. "We'll wear the stupid costumes."

Seth put the car back in park and popped the trunk. "Well, put them on then," he yelled out the window. "And hurry up. It's late."

Grumbling furiously, Dean grabbed the costume that had been Kofi's and yanked on the red and green striped leggings followed by a green tunic with jingle bells around the collar. Roman raised an eyebrow when Dean plopped the floppy red elf hat on his head as well. "Hey, if you're gonna do it, you might as well do it right," Dean explained with a shrug.

Roman struggled to pull on Big E's striped leggings, cursing all the while. "My pants are too short," he complained pitifully.

Dean shot him an incredulous look. "We're dressed up as freaking elves and that's what you're gonna complain about?"

Roman snarled and pulled the red tunic over his head. He didn't put on the hat.

"Say cheese!" Seth said, surprising Roman and Dean with the flash of his cell phone camera as they settled into the backseat. He could practically feel their eyes glaring holes into the back of his head the whole drive back, but it didn't bother him. He was enjoying this way too much.

When they got back to the hotel, Seth happily snapped more photos as Roman and Dean tried to make it back up to their room as inconspicuously as possible. As soon as they were inside, Seth locked himself in the bathroom, partially out of his desire to finally wash the sticky salt water off his skin and partially to avoid his brothers' potential wrath over his little stunt.

Several minutes later, a freshly showered Seth emerged from the bathroom to a suspiciously silent room. He looked around cautiously as he walked the couple of feet back to the main room. He gasped at what he saw. All the alcohol Roman and Dean had consumed that evening had obviously caught up with them. They had both collapsed onto the bed and fallen into a deep sleep without even bothering to remove their costumes. The best part was that in his drunken slumber, Roman had thrown his arm over Dean's chest, and they looked exactly like they were cuddling. Seth smiled triumphantly. The universe was obviously on his side in this quest for revenge.

Seth quickly grabbed his cell phone and snapped several more photos. He frowned. Something was missing. His eyes roamed across the room, landing on Dean's championship belt draped carefully over his suitcase. Yes! Seth grabbed the belt and placed it carefully over Dean's waist. He adjusted Dean's hat slightly and gently brushed Roman's hair off of his face. Perfect. He snapped several more photos and grinned widely. This night had gone even better than he had hoped.

Satisfied, Seth removed the belt from Dean's waist, took off Roman's and Dean's shoes, and rummaged in the closet until he found a blanket to throw over the two of them. Then he turned off the light and settled down on the other bed to look over the photos he had taken. Deciding on a favorite, he emailed it to both Roman and Dean with the cheery subject line "Merry Christmas, Jerkface!" Finally, he turned off his phone and closed his eyes, a smile dancing on his lips. The morning couldn't get here soon enough.

When Seth did awake the next morning, he was completely unsurprised to find Dean and Roman still sound asleep in the other bed, though no longer cuddling. He decided to let them sleep a little longer while he went down to the hotel gym to grab a quick workout. No doubt they were going to be completely useless today, but it was worth it.

Roman woke up only a little after Seth left with a dry mouth, a pounding head, and a desperate need to go to the bathroom. He stumbled out of bed, his eyes only open wide enough to navigate his surroundings. He sighed in relief when he reached his destination and then groaned when he realized what he was wearing. He turned to face himself in the mirror. He looked ridiculous. Roman prided himself on being able to make any outfit look good, but even his powers weren't enough to save this getup. At least nobody saw me in it, he thought thankfully as he pulled it off and stepped into the shower.

About twenty minutes later, freshly showered and somewhat refreshed though still quite hungover, Roman stood in front of the coffeemaker waiting for his coffee to finish brewing. He picked up his phone from the bedside table and began checking his email. His eyes widened in horror when he opened the email Seth had sent him the night before. There he was - unmistakable despite the elf costume - snuggling, snuggling! with Dean who was also dressed as an elf while wearing his championship belt around his waist. Shit. He rubbed a hand over his face. It was way too early in the morning for him to be dealing with this crap.

With a slightly trembling hand, Roman quickly pulled up Seth's Twitter account to see if he had posted the picture yet. It wasn't there. It wasn't on Seth's Instagram or Facebook page either, thank god. So there was still a small chance that this whole thing would stay private, an in-joke among friends. Roman poured himself a mug of coffee and sat down on Seth's bed, suddenly regretting how long and hard and often he had laughed at Seth's YouTube video a month earlier.

When Seth returned from his workout, he found Dean and Roman both awake, dressed in normal clothing, and looking at him warily. "Good morning!" he said cheerfully. "How're you feeling?"

"Seth," Roman said carefully, opting to skip past the pleasantries, "what are you planning on doing with that picture?"

"Oh, you saw that already?" he asked brightly. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You know, I really haven't decided yet."

"Well, in that case," Roman continued, "Dean and I could really make it worth your while to delete it and forget it."

"Really?" Seth answered curiously, pulling out a chair and taking a seat. "What did you have in mind?"

"What do you want?" Dean returned gruffly.

"Hmm…" Seth pursed his lips as he considered the question. "What do I want?" He tapped his mouth thoughtfully. "Well, what I really want is for there to be no internet memes of me with a photoshopped milk mustache saying 'Got Milk?' I would also really like it if there were no gifs of me flailing around like some sort of deranged Christmas tree/swamp monster hybrid. But if I can't have that, I guess I would settle for seeing the two of you equally humiliated." He casually pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Look," Roman said, raising his hands in surrender and speaking very meekly, knowing that his fate was currently in Seth's hands. "I know that whole incident was embarrassing. But it wasn't even us that posted that video."

"Yeah," Dean agreed quickly. "Raven did it."

"Wow," Seth said, glancing back and forth between his two brothers, an amused smirk on his face. "You two sure were quick to throw Raven under the bus to save your own asses. I know who technically did it, but you encouraged her, so I hold you responsible. And there must be consequences." He looked into each of their eyes for a long moment and then began tapping on his phone.

"Wait," Dean pleaded. "We're sorry, alright? Really, really sorry. But this is the Christmas season. It's a season for forgiveness and fresh starts! You're not really going to hold a grudge, are you?"

Seth sat perfectly still for several seconds as if he was really considering Dean's words. Then he gave his phone a last few taps to simultaneously upload the photo to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. "There's no need for me to hold a grudge," he answered, smiling angelically at their horrified faces. "We're even now."

The End