Sarah grinned and waved at one of her colleagues before setting off for home. She was excited to finally be heading to her apartment. She had worked a double shift that day and it was already late into the evening. Though there were rather violent people up and around the streets she would be walking through, the brunette wasn't too worried. Many of the people on her way home knew her. Yes, several of them thought she was a mutant and that gave her a little trouble. She hadn't been attacked though.

With a whistle coming from her lips she turned down another street. She was about four blocks away from her apartment building now. Her happy tune died as she noticed a few staggering men coming her way. With a sigh, she turned to see if she could cross the street to by-pass them. Unfortunately, there was another group coming across the same street. With a soft spoken curse, the brunette decided to double back to another street she could use.

"Hey! Mutant *****!" she heard one of her yell at her. "Get back here!"

Her heeled shoes made loud stomping noises as she started to jog away from the drunken men. She turned her head to see several of the men start running after her. Another curse left her as she felt one of her wedges land on the pavement wrong. With a sharp pain in her leg, she fell to the ground.

"That's such a good girl," one of the men sneered as they closed in on her.

HE was feeling the strain of the day’s events so much violence and hatred, it was enough to make anyone want to lock them selves away and wait till it was all over. Unfortunately Sam never felt like that was an option. He’d much rather meet the chaos head on with his fist cocked up ready to fly in the direction of trouble. It didn’t help much he was still pretty pissed about the last few months as well.

The air around him was cold as he continued on the ice slide over the low buildings of the area. There wasn’t much trouble around here from what he could see but that didn’t mean there was nothing going on. The absence of evidence isn’t the evidence of absence. Meaning just because he could feel or see any trouble didn’t mean there wasn’t any. Almost on cue heard, ‘Mutant *****!’ that was a big red flag in Sam’s book and also a big no-no. He turned his head and his body followed while he looked for the source of the voice.

Sam slowly skated overhead looking down on everyone and everything as he passed. Up here it was easy to see multiple things at once and the next thing his eye had caught was a woman laying on the ground and several men stumbling after her. ”Oh good.” Sam muttered sarcastically wishing the day was over, ”Drunks….” Sam hopped down from his slide and landed in between the girl and the drunks. ”Good girl is falling on the pavement?” Sam asked sighing as he up righted himself and looked to the group of men. ”Let’s see you running in heels.” Sam felt the woman behind him as a chill pushed backwards and forwards making Sam able to feel all the body heat around him making it easy to make sure no one sneaks up on him or the woman.

”You alright lady?” Sam asked before adding to the men, ”Might be a good idea to head home for the night guys, been having a really bad day and I’m not too big on a bunch of guys looking boozed up chasing a pretty lady.”

>>”Good girl is falling on the pavement? Let’s see you running in heels.”

Sarah huffed at the new man's words. She wasn't sure who he was, but the fact he landed between her and the drunks made her day... er, night better.  The brunette moved to sit up as the man kept talking.

>>”You alright lady?"

In response, Sarah simply hummed. She wasn't sure how she was. Her ankle was stinging but she hadn't checked it yet. The thought made her reach for the throbbing appendage.  She figured she'd take her wedges off before she harmed herself further.

>>"...bad day and I’m not too big on a bunch of guys looking boozed up chasing a pretty lady.”

One of the drunks swayed as he ran at Sarah's savior. It wasn't very intimidating considering he swayed so far he toppled over. A very unladylike snort left the green eyed woman at the sight. She had started to place weight on her ankle by then, testing to see how much she could handle.

"Get up ya idiot," the one of the other drunks yelled. "And you, you mutant scum, you going to try to protect your little w****?" I doubt you could land a hit!"

A few of the others, probably the slightly sober drunks, started to back away from the main group. Those were the ones Sarah deemed "smart". The rest?

"Idiots. One thing you should never do is taunt someone stronger than you," Sarah whispered as she moved to stand up. She trusted the man in front of her to watch her back.

One of the drunks toppled over and he could feel the woman behind him moving around most likely reaching for her shoes that made it so hard for her to escape in the first place Sam still couldn’t understand why women wore them. Yeah it made them look good but it also made it difficult to go anywhere he shifted his thoughts from the woman to the lead drunk who suggested Sam land a hit. He smirked; while he normally wouldn’t feed into the taunt he was tempted the mutant think he could ignore but the comment at the woman’s expense he made note. The woman behind him might have also encouraged the drunks a bit more only a few of them didn’t take the bait.

Turning his back away from the drunks but still feeling them as a chill developed in the air Sam smiled to the woman and walked towards her offering a hand up. ”Don’t think you need to encourage them, I can smell them from here. Someone is a whiskey drinker.” he tried to smile but it only turned into a partial one. ”Looks like you took quite the fall, can you stand?” Sam asked curiously his lone eye looking down to her ankle.

Wishing he had healing abilities or X-ray vision to try and make a proper assessment of her leg he only managed to form a small ball of ice and offered it to her in hopes it would numb some of the pain if she really wasn’t able to walk. Now that he thought about it though he’d get into too much trouble with the X-ray vision.

Turning his head slightly towards the drunks Sam spoke loudly for him, ”I suggest you all go home before you do something your going to regret. Last time I’m warning you.” he turned his attention back to the woman.

>>”Don’t think you need to encourage them, I can smell them from here. Someone is a whiskey drinker."

"My mouth runs when I'm nervous," she admitted softly.

>>"Looks like you took quite the fall, can you stand?”

The brunette nodded as she stood on her feet, after accepting help from her savior. She tried to keep most of her weight on her good leg. It hurt a bit but she could stand. "Just don't ask me to run, or walk for that matter."

Sarah took the ice ball with another smile. She bent down slightly, keeping a hold of the man's hand so she didn't fall, and place the ice on her ankle. The cold was numbing and if she kept it in place she could probably move some later on. Sarah moved her shoes over to keep the ice stantionary before standing straight.

She had missed the man's words to the drunks, but the drunks seemed to have lessened in number again. There were only five in front of them and three on the street.

"Think you can handle all of us at once?" the one Sarah figured for the leader of the group taunted again. "With your little w**** needing help standing?"

"And whose fault is that?" Sarah muttered.

”Wouldn’t dream of it.” Sam said with a smile to the woman making sure to give her the proper support she needed so she wouldn’t fall. Sam looked back to the drunks again once she was on her feet and icing her leg. There was that word again. Sam’s expression changed to one of irritation, ”I’d imagine I could.” Sam said hardly looking to anyone else other than the guy who had the big mouth.

Shrugging his shoulders and bringing the woman’s hand around his shoulder so she could use him for a crutch he activated his abilities. The air around them became colder. ”In fact I’m confident I won’t even need to use my hands on this one.” Sam extended the cold air out further making sure to keep the immediate area around him and the girl somewhat tolerable. Looking back to the woman Sam gave her a reassuring smile ”Let me know if it gets too cold okay?” before he turned his attention back to the loud mouth drunk.

”This is how it’s going to go down,” his voice carried out towards them, ”You are first going to apologize to this pretty lady for scaring her and for calling her a w**** then your gonna take your sorry asses back to what ever holes you crawled out of and be thankful you didn’t get your ass kicked.”


Sam waited for a second then looked back to the woman he was helping hold up. ”Mind reaching into my right back pocket?” the pocket where he kept his wallet and honorary police badge. ”I told them I wouldn’t use my hands.” Sam said bluntly though giving the woman a slight smirk.

Sarah nodded at the man's comment about the cold, as she adjusted the hand he put on his shoulder. She was used to some extremes but her clothing was light for anything less than late spring. She could feel the air getting colder. 'Of course,' she thought, 'Ice and cold are connected. Wow, my brain is slow.'

>>”This is how it’s going to go down, you are first going to apologize to this pretty lady for scaring her and for calling her a w**** then your gonna take your sorry asses back to what ever holes you crawled out of and be thankful you didn't get your ass kicked.”

The brunette could see the breath of several of the men but none seemed to take the hint. She could see a few of them shaking from the cold as well. Sarah wondered at the control since she was pretty sure she wasn't as cold as the drunks seemed to be.

Sarah was startled when the man spoke to her. She nodded since she caught the end of his question. A small laugh came out at his comment about his hands. She carefully reached into his pocket, making sure it was the right pocket. As she pulled out the contents of his pocket, the "leader" decided to speak.

"What? You think you can pay us off, ya mutant scum! Ya must be stupider than I thought!" the man laughed.

Sarah gasped softly when she saw the Police badge on his wallet. She had heard of New York having mutants in the police force, but she hadn't actually met any of them that she knew of. The brunette paused when she heard someone moving behind her. Turning her head to look through her peripheral, she spotted two more men coming towards the small stand off.

"Well this night just keeps getting better and better," Sarah whispered, holding onto the wallet with her free hand.

Sam ignored the drunks as the woman reached into his back pocket. He smirked a little when she pulled out his wallet and it registered with her what he was doing. ”Clearly I’m the stupid one.” Sam said willing the air to become colder except his immediate vicinity. Ice started to form on the ground nearest the sewers were some water was already collected. He shifted his weight so the girl could put more weight on him and less on her leg. ”If you could flash the badge for me please?” Sam asked the woman before he looked back and addressed the drunks who seemed to grow in numbers instead of dwindle like it should have been doing.

”My name is Sam Johnson and I’m a registered officer of the law.” ‘Honorary’ thought Sam but didn’t allow that to make him sound any less in charge. ”Not only can I bring you in for being drunk in public and disturbing the peace but I can also slam you with attempted assault on the lovely…” Sam leaned his head over towards the woman so she didn’t have to yell, ”Ms. or Mrs.?” Sam asked curiously flashing her a small grin before he continued.

”To sum up so you drunks can process it, you go home or you go to jail.” Sam then shrugged slightly under the woman’s weight before he said to her, ”Doubt they are gonna go home.” meaning it was high time he wrapped up this little mess. More ice started to form around them in a perfect circle, it was a thin enough layer to spot but if you weren’t looking at it it could go unnoticed. Sam waited as the first drunk but not the leader ran towards them and slipped landing on his back with a small yelp.

Sarah nodded as she showed the group of drunks the police badge. A few seemed nervous but none of them left. The brunette shifted her weight again, feeling a flash of pain go through her leg.

>>”My name is Sam Johnson and I’m a registered officer of the law. Not only can I bring you in for being drunk in public and disturbing the peace but I can also slam you with attempted assault on the lovely… Ms. or Mrs.?”

"Ms. Jackson," she told him with a small smile. "Sarah Jackson."

The brunette listened as the man, Sam, told the drunks their options. She nodded in agreement to his judgement of the men. When the first "attacker" charged, she couldn't help the loud laugh that left her lips. The man sounded like a small dog.

"What the devil?" one of the new men called to the fallen drunk. "Well don't just stand there, get him!"

With those words, the three different groups of men charged at them. Though she knew she was protected, she hid her face in the shoulder she had a hold of.

Sam sighed as the men charged and Sarah buried her face in his shoulder. Sam made sure not to shift any weight towards the woman but rather his other side so if anything she’d come off her ankle slightly. ”Yeah, listen to the guy who is sprawled out on his ass. Great plan.” Sam said sarcastically as he smirked and lifted his free hand upwards willing the ice to lift he and Sara. They rose two feet or so then another circle of ice formed from the black ice and then that circle lifted another two feet. This process continued quickly until they were standing atop a small three-tier system. Six feet off the ground Sam looked down on the men and then shifted his head towards the girl.

”You feel like pressing charges?” Sam asked curiously as the men continued to charge unfazed by the platform the pair were on now. Two more men slipped on the black ice falling backwards as the rest slowly made their way towards them. Sam blinked once feeling a few people circle them from behind and he started to laugh slightly. ”Alright, this has gone on long enough.” a pair of frozen hands erupted from the black ice grabbing onto another guy who face planted shortly after. He struggled but the hands of ice held tight and kept him planted to the ground.

All around them more hands sprouted up out of the ice and even on the tier system they were on all except the third platform where they were standing. A few backed away those that didn’t only managed to get caught in the hands as they latched onto drunks ankles. One managed to jump up a tier then another carefully avoiding the hands. Sam grunted slightly muttered an apology to Sarah then threw his farthest leg from her out in a back kick catching the guy in the chest forcing him back. The ice hands latched onto him and held him down. Sam caught his balance and then stood up straight again still trying to keep the girls weight off her ankle.

Sam looked around at a few of the guys who backed away before they were tangled in the hands that sprouted from the ice. ”Might be better if you hop on my back Sarah, these guys might try again and I'm more worried about you than them.”

Sarah jerked when she felt them rise into the air. She took a peek from her cover, which she realized was a little silly, to find that they were on three different layers of ice.

>>”You feel like pressing charges?”

The brunette shook her head. "I'd rather just go home. They haven't actually touched me anyways." Sarah then proceeded to watch as Sam manipulated the ice into large hands which then started to hold down the drunks. A small squeak left her as Sam moved to hit one of the men. A gasp of pain soon covered the sound.

>>”Might be better if you hop on my back Sarah, these guys might try again and I'm more worried about you than them.”

Sarah froze before nodding, her forehead moving against his back. She wanted to get off her ankle anyway, and it didn't seem she would be able to get home anytime soon. She shifted a little so she had more weight on her bad ankle to even her weight out, ignoring the pain shooting through her as she climbed onto Sam's back. As she got up, the drunks charged again.

Sam nodded his head when the girl responded with a no and the need to go home. ”Fair enough one express ride home then!” Sam said as he looked to the guys on the ground, ”Count yourselves lucky guys, if she wanted to I would have beat the tar out of all of you and brought you in on charges.” Once she was securely on his back Sam crouched low and then rocketed the third tier they were standing on straight up launching them in the air.

Now free falling back to the ground Sam willed some ice to erupt from his feet in his familiar ice slide. Quickly the slide brought them down and back up as they made their way over some buildings and over a few streets away from the their previous location. One of Sam’s arms wrapped around Sarah’s leg helping to lock her in place on his back. ”Where you want to go? Can totally understand if you just want me to drop you off near your place, I’ll even make some crutches for you.”

Swerving back and forth on his ice slide Sam waited for directions while his other hand pressed his earpiece, ”This is Sam, if you can send a unit to my last location I have some people ready for the drunk tank.”

The moment they left the ice tower, Sarah bit back a scream. She rationalized that Sam wouldn't save her just to allow her to get hurt again. She let out a calming breath when they started moving away from the drunks. The ice under them was a little concerning but the brunette allowed herself to relax.

>>”Where you want to go? Can totally understand if you just want me to drop you off near your place, I’ll even make some crutches for you.”

While she wouldn't mind getting in bed and ignoring the world until the morning, Sarah decided against it. "Could you just take me to the park near here? I don't think I'm ready to go home just yet. Too much adrenaline," she told him once he was finished speaking.