”Nice shooting sparky!” was all Sam could say as he shifted his attention to the other gunman. From last count there was nine, two were now out thanks to Juliette and her skill set. On second thought, Sam would give her credit for taking the others down as well even if he knocked them out broke a bone or shot a beam of cold it was her flash bang that started it all and made it safer for Sam to act putting less people in danger. At the end of the day that was what he wanted to make sure people were safe even if he didn’t always feel that way.

Sam skated up to another shooter and forced himself to the ground and then swept the shooters leg. Once the shooter was off of his feet Sam turned his body and spun sending his leg up and around into a roundhouse to the side of the head causing the gunman to collapse. ”Light the way sparky let’s get everyone out of here! To the stairs!” Sam said as he raised his hand and shot the two shooters that Juliette brought down. The black shirt with red writing iced over and stuck to the ground.

”Can we wrap this up now?” Sam asked the other shooters, the barrels of their guns already being coated with ice due to Sam’s proximity.

Juliette nodded, turning to the hostages that sat on the floor. She hadn't really noticed, but they had been watching them for almost the entire time. She looked at their faces, noting how scared they all looked.

"Just follow the lights out of the building," Juliette said loud enough for most of them to hear.

She glanced back at Sam. He looked like he could handle himself for a bit, especially since the two guys she had hit down were now glued to the floor, and he was covering the barrels of some more guns with ice.

Juliette shifted and broke apart into little lights, guiding the way down the stairs and out of the building. It wasn't a long way, but people were scared and it helped for them to have a guide. While the people on the first floor exited, a few more 'fireflies' flew to the second floor and above to try and guide more people out.

After a few minutes, the building was mostly empty, Juliette drew herself back together and looked around for Sam, trying to make sure that he was still alright. "Sam?" She called out.

As the hostages were being led out of the main lobby Sam could hear the gunman shout and pull their triggers on their guns. The handgun from the leader got one round off before the gun misfired causing the bullet to be sent backwards through the hammer of the gun and into the guys thumb. The leader screamed and dropped his gun while the other gunman threw his shotgun at Sam realizing that it wasn’t going to work.

Stepping out of the way of the gun Sam charged and pivoted as the gunman met him trying to swing at Sam’s head. Sam guided the strike while wrapping his other arm around the guy’s head and redirected him into a bench. He grunted and pulled a knife shortly after landing.

”You’re under arrest.” Sam said as he could feel the last of hostages exit through the stairwell. Juliette was walking back he could hear her and feel her. ”Hostages are gone, no mutants will die today.” the air got colder as Sam called out to Juliette, ”Sparky stay hidden till they are pinned.” he realized it sounded like a command, ”Please.” as he said please the gunman he had thrown a minute before charged behind him with a knife.

While Sam was distracted and turned towards the guy with the knife the leader using his good hand pulled a small snub nose from behind and aimed it at the man who had ruined all of his plans and pulled the trigger.

Juliette was greeted by the sounds of gunshot and screaming. She froze, fear creeping into her mind. From what she could tell, Sam hadn't had a gun on him, and it seemed like he had an easier time using ice than automated weapons.

”Sparky stay hidden till they are pinned. Please.”

She let out the breath that she had been holding silently. It sounded like the screams hadn't been Sam's, which was a good sign. She didn't know what she would do if she had managed to get him shot.

With the idea of Sam being in trouble out of the way, her mind was free to focus on other things. Why was he telling her to stay out of the way? Obviously she wasn't completely incapable of fending for herself, and there was still a lot to be done. If there wasn't so much going on that could end up in someone being injured or killed, maybe she would have listened to him, but that wasn't the case.

Juliette followed the sounds that she had just heard a little down the hallway, just in time to see an angry gunman holding an injured hand to his stomach and a gun out in front of him. Sam was turned towards her, and the gun was pointed towards him.

"Look out!" She yelled instinctively, her eyes wide in fear.

Sam heard the command before the gunfire meaning he had a few seconds if that to act. The armor behind him thickened as the armor in front of him thinned so he wasn’t exactly ready for the knife that was coming in at his side. The bullet smacked in the back of the ice and Sam felt the heat in the back of his shoulder blade. The ice-mancer felt warm on his back trickle down under the ice it didn’t go deep but it caused a burn and drew some blood. Sam grunted as he staggered forward and turned in a quick pivot.

A shared of ice shot up with Sam’s wild swing and went right into the gunman’s hand. The man screamed and dropped the gun as Sam continued to swing his arm into a hammer fist connecting with the guy who left his knife in Sam’s side. Both gunmen collapsed and Sam looked down and pulled the knife from his side. Ice covered his stabbed wound to stop the bleeding and the ice armor thickened around his whole body now to prevent any more damage. Sam wanted to take a knee or sit down but he wasn’t sure if he had that luxury.

Between the screaming gunman and the one collapsed on the floor out cold Sam called out. ”Sparky, all good?” asking Juliette if there was any more trouble because apparently she sees better than him, which Sam was grateful for because he didn’t want to go to the doc with a gunshot again. Stab wound fine but not a gunshot.

The brunette took in a sharp breath as she watched the scene. A bullet hit Sam in the shoulder, drawing blood through the thick layer of ice that was quickly coating his skin. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but on the other hand, the knife that the man standing in front of him had gone right in.

Neither the stabbing nor the gunshot seemed to have affected him too much, though, as he took the next minute to brutally pound his fist into both gunmen. If there was to be anything said about Sam, it was that he could really take a hit. Or two.

”Sparky, all good?”

"Yes, we're all good," Juliette answered before even checking. The last thing he needed was more reason to ignore a stab wound. To her relief, it seemed that she was correct in saying that, and that all of the gunmen were out for the count. That, or they had witnessed the way that their friends were taken down, and decided that they would rather not go the same way. 

She stepped forward, ignoring the two men on the floor. Someone else could deal with them. She wasn't about to give two human supremacists the time of day if she didn't have to. Besides, their injuries wouldn't kill them. Hopefully.

"Lie down on that stretcher," she told him, making sure that her voice sounded irrefutable, "let me take a look." There was no way she was going to let him leave without her doing so first.  

”I don’t need to lie down.” Sam said as he looked around to confirm that it was indeed all-good. When he was satisfied a few seconds later he decided that it was okay to release his hold on the temperature. No reason to give sick people any more reason to be sick. Sam turned to see Juliette and saw the serious look he had and then he grunted. ”Fine.” Sam leaned up then climbed onto the stretcher ice still intact on his back while his front was just skin. The knife wound he now was sporting was still covered in ice.

Sam smirked as he laid down in his patient gown and he asked, ”So should I get some pants on or maybe we should take this into another room?” if anything else he only said it to see if she got uncomfortable like Ghost did. He didn’t know why but he loved to do that to people. Another second passed and then he started laughing remembering he had with his friend Luke from years back. ”So does this gown count as a dress? If so I think I won a bet.”

>>”So should I get some pants on or maybe we should take this into another room?”

Juliette rolled her eyes at Sam as she rolled forward in the little stool beside the stretcher. For one thing, she had heard the joke before, and for another, she had been well and thoroughly desensitized over the last few years. "Good one. Don't worry, I'm used to seeing everything, but if there's something that you're embarrassed about, I'll try not to look too closely."

>>”So does this gown count as a dress? If so I think I won a bet.”

"Uh-" she paused to think for a moment. "Well, I guess it sort of does. A gown is a type of dress, but only if you stretch the facts. I guess you'd have to ask whoever you made the bet with. Which, I am now super curious about."

Juliette lifted the side of Sam's hospital gown and took a look. Next to the fresh wound front the knife, Sam was covered in scars. She let out a quiet gasp as her hand brushed over the numerous places that showed where he had been previously injured. "Where did you get all of these?" She asked him, his current injury that would probably need a scan a second opinion long forgotten. The scars were too numerous and different to have come from one place, and with the addition of his missing eye, it was obvious that he didn't avoid trouble.

From the corner of her eye, she could see his arm bleeding from the bullet wound. It wasn't too bad, but she gave it a quick look anyway. On his shoulder, there was a tattoo: 602. She questioned that as well, but decided to wait to ask until he had answered her previous question.

When she retired at first Sam feigned a painful burn then smirked, ”Nothing to hide, some say I should be a little more modest. Never know if I should take that as an insult or a compliment.” he shifted forward for her to check the wound and the tiny cut he got from the bullet.

”Friend of mine, Luke.” he tried to explain as basic as he could for she didn’t know Luke. ”Once made a bet saying I couldn’t kick some @$$ in a dress. Never could have completed the bet because you know, dresses don’t really flatter.” Sam said joking and smiling up until her fingers traced along the roadmap and timeline of scars. Over the years Sam had acquired a lot of scars, though he never wanted them to be healed fully until recently. All of them led to his time with the X-Men and where he was now, though some scars couldn’t be seen.

His body was tense and his back became stiff when she asked, only for a second though before joking, ”Buy me dinner first?” he smirked then added. ”Kinda all over. Most of them are reminders to be more careful. Not the first time I was shot or stabbed.” Sam said shrugging as if it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Sam touched a spot where her fingers pass a few seconds earlier and he spoke, ”stabbed in the back when I was twenty when I was in Russia.” he shifted and pointed to his eye, ”Romania during the camps.” he pointed to a few burns on his back. ”Last year, bad guy with fire hands.” he waited before adding others. Some he didn’t remember but he knew at one point they were important enough to make sure it was healed fully.

Juliette was silent for a few seconds, unsure of what exactly to say. There had been a moment where Sam was tense before he had started to joke. It was a moment of honesty, a glance at what he was really thinking. She knew it wouldn't be good to use a witty retort in response. It would have been incredibly insensitive.

"I'm sorry," she said instead. Her tone was honest, and didn't share the lightness that Sam's had. Maybe he was able to make light of it, but it was more difficult for her. She had seen bad wounds to be sure, but never that many on one person. He obviously hasn't had an easy go of things.

She cleared her throat and removed her fingers from his numerous scars. Her hands searched the trolley next to the stretcher and she picked up some bandages and gauze. His arm could be bandaged easily, and likely wouldn't need stitches, but the stab wound was more difficult. There was the possibility of internal bleeding, so he would have to have a scan or two.

With her left hand, she held the gauze against Sam's side to stop the bleeding. After a second, she moved his hand over the gauze so that he could hold it himself and she could work on his arm.

Then, she cleaned the wound quickly and dressed it at the same speed. She sighed and looked around. They really had made a mess of things.

"The police are going to be here soon," she mused. "They're probably going to want to talk to you. The thing is, you're going to need some scans and a doctor to look at that wound. So, I can either bring them here, or you can wait until afterwards. It's up to you." She didn't want him walking around with possible internal bleeding, but she also knew that he had been through worse, and she didn't want to baby him. She owed him that much at least.

”The police can wait. God knows they have enough going on getting everyone’s input on what happened.” there would be four different stories some calming that they helped others that Sam was a little too aggressive… he sighed and her hand moved from his scars to his wound. Maybe he was too aggressive but if he wasn’t the casualties might have actually been that casualties instead of bad guys broken bones. No he was aggressive to get there attention and that was it.

”The police can wait.” he said again reiterating what he had already decided. ”You on the other hand.” he trailed off. ”Are you okay?” he asked turning his one eye towards her, ”You did say you were tired of boring though… so it could be argued that you had something to do with this stab wound.” Sam joked lifting the bandage and causing the hole to freeze to slow the bleeding.

It would have been easy to leave at this point, sneak off, hitch a ride or make an ice slide and return to the mansion to get healed but it was kind of nice having someone seem worried about the ice-mancer in his mind it didn’t happen often. ”and you don’t have to apologize you didn’t do anything wrong right?” Sam asked not sure if he missed something.

"I'm fine; not even a scratch," she told him honestly. She had somehow managed to avoid being injured at all during the events of the day. She knew, of course, that it wouldn't have been the case if Sam hadn't arrived when he did. There would have very likely been a high death count and she might have even been included in it. It was a strange thought.

"You, on the other hand, need a scan," Juliette noted. It was difficult to tell where the knife had hit exactly, and she wanted to make sure that there wasn't damage beyond what the eye could see. "And an opinion from a doctor," she added again.

>>”and you don’t have to apologize you didn’t do anything wrong right?”

"Well technically I called you here, so the injuries are kind of my fault," she sighed as she gave his arm another look as he froze his side.

“Need a drink actually.” Sam said trying to laugh but stopping from the knife wound contracting with his muscles. “Maybe a doctor...” Sam said knowing his normal doctor was there in a heartbeat with some attitude. Sam didn’t want to hear it so he thought about a scan.

“Glad you called.” Sam shifted his gaze away from her and stared at the ceiling as if there was something interesting with the old tiles. “I do this because I want to.”[/color] he shifted uncomfortably. “Feel free to call me anytime. Why you got my number, right?” Sam raised his eyebrow and looked at her.

“Maybe I should go see my Doc… Wonder what he is doing right now.” knowing where he would be, but not what he was doing. There were so many injuries in the mansion the infirmary always had someone in it meaning if he were free, his free time would be in the infirmary.

Sam decided to sit still a little longer though shifting his attention back to Juliette. ”and that wasn’t what I meant. Well I Meant more than that, some people don’t handle situations like that too well. Especially after… Just asking is all.” he said trying to comfort her a little in his round about way.

"A drink, huh?" Juliette asked absently as she continued to look at his injuries. "You won't find one here, I'm afraid. Too many people with additions or trying to get sober. You know how people can be. Plus it would be bad form if the staff were drinking on shift." The explanation came easy to her; it was one she used often with patients searching for something to dull the pain.

“Feel free to call me anytime. Why you got my number, right?”

"Do you often give your number out to strangers to call you when they're in danger?" She asked him, half joking, half questioning. That morning, she wouldn't have cared, but somewhere along the way her feelings had shifted slightly.

“Maybe I should go see my Doc… Wonder what he is doing right now.”

A light suddenly went off in her head, "this, 'Doc', of yours, does he have any useful mutant powers? Because at this point that might be a little easier. Especially considering I'm not even sure where any of the doctors in this hospital are."

She glanced at him shifting uncomfortably, wishing she could do more to help than just refer him to other people.

Sam didn’t mention that his pants had a flask in it though at this point he wasn’t exactly sure what floor they were on. Sadly this wasn’t the first time he had lost his pants in a hospital and he doubted it would be the last whenever he woke up in a hospital he was always confused. This time though he just forgot. ”I just gave my number out to you so we could grab a drink and talk.” Sam said with a sly smirk trying to ignore his injuries. It hurt to laugh but that didn’t stop a chuckle.

”Healer.” Sam said without much thought, ”Though, he might still be a little irritated with me.” Sam said not explaining further. She didn’t want to know how he broke his arm, right? It was just him being stupid with a gravity manipulator.

Sam noticed she didn’t say how she was, meaning she was fine with everything or she was just bottling everything up. Sam did the second often, which resulted in his drinking habits and lack of sleep. He decided to not say anything about that until a later time. ”Might need someone to drive me though.” Sam raised an eyebrow. ”When is your shift done?”