Juliette looked up and nodded at Sam. They needed to get to the exit as soon as possible. The Pumpking was getting angrier, and there was no telling how long they had before it upped the violence even more. It had, after all, already begun to spew seeds at them. Plus, their date had already been ruined enough by the stupid giant pumpkin.

“Can you tell me your name, sweetheart? I’m Juliette, and that’s Sam over there,” Juliette informed the little boy, doing her best to keep her voice sounding calm and reassuring.

The boy had already begun to sit up. He looked straight ahead, almost as if he was trying his hardest to ignore his pumpkin double and the X attacking it. He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath before he managed to get a few words out.

“C-Caleb,” he finally managed. “I-I don't want to get hurt!”

”Hey,” Juliette shook her head, ”you won't be hurt. I’ll make sure of that, but we need to get outside of here. Can you get up for me? Is anything hurt?”

Caleb’s eyes grew wide and he shook his head quickly. “I don’t want to go outside. They’ll hurt me outside!”

Juliette put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. ”I promise that no one will hurt you, but in order to help you, we need to be outside, alright?”

Caleb slowly nodded and got to his feet carefully. The Pumpking turned it’s head to look at the boy leaving and let out an angry howl.

Caleb shuddered and stopped, but Juliette led him forward swiftly. She looked back at Sam and nodded her head towards the hole, indicating that they could handle things from the outside now. Within a few more steps they were outside of the pumpkin.

Sam was tempted to skate by and scoop the two up and make a break for the exit but there was no telling what the pumpking would do if that happened. Sam was pretty sure the only reason Juliette wasn’t thrown out was because Sam was currently distracting the glob of pumpkin guts.

Turning his attention to the two briefly Sam shot at two of the seeds that was burrowing just under the orange flooring towards Juliette and the kid. Another roar and the pumpking charged forward but was met with a large blast of blue. The pumpkings legs froze and he looked back to his lady friend and the kid. They were outside now and Sam just turned towards the pumpking.

A low audible rumbling resonated from the blob as he fell off the frozen legs and reformed them once he hit the floor of the pumpkin. ‘s…tay….’ The blob ignored Sam now and crawled for the exit. The icemancer stepped in his way. ”
He goes… you stay.” Sam shot a beam of ice and froze the blob to the flooring. There was no movement and Sam waited for a second hoping he’d get some indication that this was over.

Outside of the pumpkin and the effects of the alteration of space the vines started to grow darker as if they were drying up. A few reached out slowly to Juliette and Caleb. The vines were determined to recover Caleb and bring him back into the pumpkin.

”Vines still going nuts out there?” Sam yelled out to Juliette hoping to get an answer he wanted to hear. The pumpking started to shift quickly under the ice causing the ground beneath Sam’s feet to shake.

"No, they seem to be leaving us alone," Juliette called back to the pumpkin without taking her eyes away from the quickly shrivelling vines. They had stopped moving and didn't have the same ominous air about them.

"I made them stop," Caleb said quietly. His head was bowed, but there was a hint of pride in his voice. "I did it - I made them stop!"

Juliette smiled at little at him and reached out to touch one of the vines. It made no move to do anything, and seemed like a regular pumpkin vine. It appeared that they were out of the woods. 

She turned around to see how Sam was fairing and took a deep breath. He had managed to put down the pumpking, but it was starting to shake under the ice coating on top of it, causing the entire pumpkin to shake. The thing was already in poor condition, and she doubted it would hold up if the shaking got any more intense. 

"Get out of there! We can finish it off from the outside," Juliette called to him, hoping that he wouldn't try to take the hero route and stay in there long than necessary. Caleb was safe, so there was no reason for them to try and save the giant gourd. 

Juliette’s words at first cam in loud an clear then within seconds they became distorted. Sam frowned and looked back at the hole Juliette and he created and saw that it was smaller than before. Or did it seem further away. Sam shifted his weight and looked back to the pumpking as the ice started to crack. Raising his hands up he lowered the temperature around him as the ice continued shatter around the glob.

”See…” Sam said talking to the blob as the pumpking started to pour out of the cracked ice as the goo and seeds broke down escaped the cracks then pooled into a blob before forming limbs and a head. ”I don’t know if they can hear us or if they can see us but… I’m presented with a rare opportunity.” Sam’s hands started to glow a bright blue as smoke surrounded his the glow. ”Not everyday I get to go all out, outside of the danger room. Been having to hold back because I’m not sure what my girlfriend’s power set would do to me or vise-versa once I let lose.” Sam still wasn’t sure if Juliette and the kid could hear him but it didn’t matter, he was in the zone.

”See the colder I get the brighter she becomes, make sit hard to focus but you were nice enough to make it so I can barely feel her in here…” the ground around Sam within the pumpkin started to freeze over. ”Not everyone gets to see me do this so even if you aren’t real count yourself lucky.” wiling every air molecule around him to slow due to intense cold the icemancer rushed forward at an increased speed.

The pumpking couldn’t even form a mouth before Sam rushed forward and placed a hand on his chest. The coo and seeds started to freeze instantly and the ice travled up the body. The pumpking roared and slowly reached out to swat Sam, only Sam dodged with ease and touched the pumpkings back. The pumpking turned and lashed out at nothing as Sam ducked and touched both legs with his glowing blue hands. Wherever the ice mancer touched the orange blob ice started to spread.

The pumpking didn’t stand a chance with Sam’s increased speed. Until the ice mancer started to slow down. Unfortunately for Sam he could only increase his speed for a limited time and at this point his body felt like it was on fire. His limbs were sore and his joints ached. This was an aspect of his power that took more of a toll on him than anything else he could do. By the time he was done and started to slow the ice spread all over the pumoking and the orange spongy ground around them. The ice spread until the outside started to freeze over as well.

Sam looked at the frozen blob who couldn’t heal and smirked, ”&&&& you.” Sam snapped his fingers and caused the blob to shatter. Satisfied Sam limped towards the opening that was currently freezing. Once he emerged from the hole the pumpkin finished turning into a frozen image of it’s former self. Knowing that Juliette wouldn’t be thrilled with him Sam forced a grin. ”All good?”

"What's going on? I'm really cold!" Caleb had started to shiver in his thin t-shirt, and he was looking up at Juliette with desperate eyes. 

The air around them had noticeably dropped in temperature. The sun hadn't set, and it was still bright outside, so it had to be coming from Sam. That fact was confirmed as the pumpkin started to freeze from the inside out. He hadn't listened to her plea at all, instead choosing to put himself, and possibly the two people standing outside in danger. 

"I'm not sure," Juliette finally answered his question in an apprehensive tone. She couldn't see what was going on inside, but she could hear a little. From the sounds of it, Sam had the upper hand. "But I do know that everything's under control. Have you ever heard of the X-men?"

Caleb looked at her with wide eyes and nodded after a second, distracted from the cold. "They helped when the people were all angry. I think they're cool."

Juliette smiled and put her arm around him reassuringly. "Well then you're in luck, because we're from the X-men. You're going to be just fine."

Caleb sniffed and leaned into her, put at ease. Within a few seconds, his mood changed once again, and he hid behind Juliette in fear of the thing that exited the pumpkin.

"It's okay," Juliette told him and gave Sam a look. She wasn't happy that he had stayed in there when they could have worked together to stop it from the outside, but at the same time, she was just glad that things had turned out the way they did, and that he was alright. "Everything's fine now," she answered with a sigh and shook her head a little at his antics. He couldn't just keep playing the hero and expect her to always wait patiently with no qualms. 

"Let's get you somewhere safe and warm, yeah?" She began to lead Caleb over to the house near the entrance to the pumpkin farm where they had parked. They would be able to get him sorted once they were there.

She turned to look at Sam and raised an eyebrow at him before whispering: "should we take him back to the mansion?"

Wiping a little pumpkin innards from his cheek he stilled smiled even though he got a look. He was alive and so was everyone else… except for the pumpking. Sam looked back over his shoulder at the frozen pumpkin. No doubt it would be an attraction of some sort until the ice melted. Though he doubted frozen pumpkins were that cool. Looking back to the pair he raised an eyebrow as some sort of a sorry for doing his own thing even though it was requested otherwise.

”Everything’s fine.” Sam nodded at agreement then gave the kid a small wave. ”They got hot cider.” Sam pointed out to the warm comment. Caleb at first didn’t say anything just walked as Juliette led, “I want hot Cocoa.” Sam snapped his fingers in response and pointed as he limped quickly behind them. ”And you’ll have it.” Caleb turned back to look at Sam before clutching tighter to Juliette. “I’m Caleb.” ”Sam.” was his response to the kid as he looked on to the big house where all the goodies could be purchased by the parking lot.

”Not sure yet. Got to find out if anyone is missing a kid first if not here then we can take him back. Kid needs his cocoa.” Sam returned with a hushed tone. Sam looked to Juliette and then added, ”This is still a date.” Sam said as he gave her a little peck on the cheek as he walked forward and patted Caleb on the back. ”So Caleb, how did you end up in the pumpkin? Odd place for a kid.” Sam said in a tone that made what he said sound almost like a joke.

Juliette nodded at Sam and gave him a small smile. If he was good at anything, it was diffusing situations. That and freezing things. She linked her other arm through his looked toward the farmhouse growing larger in the distance.  

"I..." Caleb looked back down at his feet and clung closely to Juliette as he wiped away a tear. "I got scared and then I was in a pumpkin and I don't know how it got there..."

He was definitely a mutant, then. Pumpkins didn't tend to just appear around kids that weren't. She bit her lip as she considered her next set of questions, knowing that they might very well be sore topics. Sore as they might be, though, they could shed some light on how he ended up in a giant pumpkin all by himself. 

"What scared you, Caleb?" Juliette asked him gently, allowing him to continue to cling to her.

He was silent for a minute, sniffled, and then began to speak, "I got lost in the corn maze and couldn't find anyone. I don't know where my mom is!" His voice was meek and he began to cry again. 

"Did your mom come with you?" She continued to ask him.

Caleb nodded and cried a little harder. Juliette rubbed the side of his arm and pointed toward the house. "Look, we're there. How big of a hot cocoa do you want?"

"The biggest one."

Juliette nodded and turned to look at the stand selling drinks and various items of food, not seeing the teary-eyed woman running toward them. 

The pumpkin offered him a safe space, one where he could be complete control of his surroundings. Was he a reality manipulator or a space one? Both could be dangerous without the proper training or control. No telling how long Caleb had been in there or if anyone else was injured from the pumpkin. Sam felt the weight of Juliette’s arm in his and he returned the link and pulled her in slightly towards him, a welcome distraction.

”It must have been the pumpkin.” Sam replied to caleb and then looked to Juliette, with a slight shrug as she did a little investigating, that was going to be one of his other questions for the kid once the hot cocoa was in his hand but it seemed that Juliette and her experience with being a nurse taught her when to recognize what to ask to get a good answer. Sam would have just beat around the bush and stalled before asking.

”We’ll find her Caleb.” Sam said trying hard not to promise. He didn’t know what the situation was and if there was any missing persons in the area. Surely he would have heard of it if it was within the last week or so right? Sam wanted to ask the next question but waited until the kid settled down a little with the tears it, which he did when he knew what he wanted. ”Biggest Hot Cocoa you got!” Sam said reaching into his wallet and pulling some money, ”and two hot ciders and some donuts please.” Sam said as he felt someone quickly approaching.

“CALEB!!!” Sam heard the worried voice before actually turning to see her. Sam smirked slightly when the kid turned his head and yelled out for his mom running towards her leaving both he and Juliette behind as the reunited mother and son embraced each other and cried out.

Sam offered up the cider to Juliette as he asked, ”Have you ever told anyone they were a mutant before?” Sam asked raising an eyebrow. ”They might not know.” Sam offered as a possibility.

Juliette's side was suddenly left with a cold portion as Caleb pulled away from her in favour of his mom. Her heart swelled as she watched him run towards her with open arms.

"I think that's the case," Juliette nodded to Sam, "for Caleb, at least. There's no telling what his mom might or might not know."

She stood still for a minute, giving the woman and her child some space. When it seemed as though things had calmed down a little, she approached cautiously.

The woman made eye contact with her, at first distrustful, but then her expression softened. "Did you... Did you find him?" She looked at the two of them hopefully and held Caleb in front of her protectively.

"We did," Juliette affirmed and smiled at Caleb reassuringly. "He'd gotten himself into a bit of a... Pickle-" she figured that 'pumpkin would be a little insensitive "-but we were able to help him out. How long was he missing?"

The woman was visibly breathing easier. "A few hours. The police said that I couldn't file a report until he'd been missing for at least twenty-four hours, so I had to wait inside. I was absolutely sick with worry." She breathed deeply again and looked between the two of them, "I'm Caroline, his mom, by the way. I really can't thank you enough. You saved my son's life. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No, no," Juliette answered quickly, "but I do think we should talk. I'm sure you've hear of mutants before?" She opened the conversation quickly, hoping that Caroline would react well. Or, as well as could be hoped, at least. 

Sam nodded his head, if the kid didn’t know it wouldn’t have surprised Sam that the mother or father didn’t mention anything. It was ‘bad’ to have a mutant child. Some parents just pretended that it didn’t happen. He wondered for a second silently thinking on how his parents would have reacted. The ice mincer knew he was a mutant then, but couldn’t remember anything other than his mother, a brother and a few random things that happened during his childhood.

Sam looked between Juliette and the mother then leaned over and kissed Juliette on the cheek then grabbed a bag of doughnuts his cider and then Caleb’s drink. ”Well kid I think we should let the ladies do the talking for a minute huh?” Sam said as he looked to the mother and smiled, ”We’ll just be out of earshot and fully insight.” the icemancer said as he looked to Caleb, ”Here you go! One super large, grande, hot cocoa loaded with extra sugar and marshmallows!” Sam said offering the drink to Caleb who was reluctant to part with his mother but seemed curious to what Sam wanted.

”I hear kids instinctively know what pumpkins are good for making pie and scary jack-o-lanterns.” Sam said as he walked with Caleb offering the kid a doughnut and then took one himself. “I don’t know.” The kid said somewhat sassy to Sam. ”Come ‘on. You look like a kid who knows his pumpkins.”

Once both were out of earshot Caroline looked to Juliette. “He isn’t a mutant… he’s…. he’s just special…” she said somewhat worried as she watched Sam and Caleb walk towards the nearest pumpkin. It was clear that Sam had questions for the kid about a small rounded pumpkin. “I just want my son…” she said her voice shaky.

Watching Sam go off with Caleb, Juliette turned to Caroline. The woman's expression was worried, and her words did nothing to suggest otherwise. “He isn’t a mutant… he’s…. he’s just special... I just want my son…” She trailed off and resumed crying as she looked at the stranger with her son.

"I know," Juliette nodded to her and placed her arm on Caroline's reassuringly. "It's weird, it's scary, and you'd rather it be anything else in the world, right?"

Caroline bit her lip and looked away. "Does... Does that make me a bad parent?"

"Come on, why don't we go sit on that bench over there? I'm Juliette, by the way," Juliette steered her toward a little wooden bench next to the drink stand. She took a seat, and Caroline quickly followed suit.

The woman rung her hands and then placed them in her lap as she watched her son carefully. He pointed out a small pumpkin atop a table that read 'pie pumpkins' before chugging his hot chocolate. Juliette lowered her head a little to hide the fact that she was smiling a little. Sam was doing a good job of distracting Caleb- a very good job. It was nice to watch, which surprised her a little.

Caroline began to talk again, which snapped Juliette's attention back towards her. "I think, on some level, that we've known for a while. His father and I, I mean," her voice was shaky and soft, like she was afraid to say what she was thinking. She wasn't beating around the bush, so obviously she understood what was going on. It made Juliette wonder if something like what happened that day had happened before. "What's going to happen to him? Is he ever going to have a normal life?"

Juliette gave her a small smile and spoke after a minute, "of course he is. I... I work at a school for mutants. Have you ever heard of the Xavier Institute?"

Caroline shook her head, but looked curious.

"He can attend there. It's a boarding school. Kids with abilities come there to train, to get better with their powers. Before long he'll have complete control and you'll wonder why you were ever worried."

"Just like that? He can just go there?" 

Juliette nodded and filled her in on some of the specific details before standing up with her. They walked back towards the two boys next to the table of pumpkins. "You can call this number when you make a decision," Juliette told the woman and nodded towards Sam.

“Nu-uh, that’s dumb. Why would they fight?” Caleb asked Sam as the kid chugged his hot cocoa. Sam smirked then looked from the two pie pumpkins. Caleb said those two look the best and the kid was hiding in one so Sam was sure the kid knew what he was talking about. ”Really, the Flash could totally beat up Batman. The guy can time travel!” Sam said sipping his cider. ”Not dumb. Fact.” Sam said smirking at the conversation. Sam didn’t know much about the comics but he knew the power set and he had seen speedsters, time travelers and billionaires with secret hideouts. Super speed was for the win.

Sam patted the kid on the head as he picked up two pumpkins and held them in one arm as Juliette and Caleb’s mom returned the mother looking a little less worried than before. ”You got yourself a smart kid here, misguided on vigilantes but smart.” Sam said grabbing the cider with the arm holding the two small pumpkins then offering the free hand to shake the mother’s hand. “He’s Batman!” Caleb said loudly, worked up that this was still even a conversation.

Smirking to Caleb and then to Juliette the icemancer raised his eyebrow, ”All good?” Sam asked the two before he showed Juliette the two pumpkins. ”Gonna have me some pie.” he smirked then tried to wink to Caleb, which just looked like a blink due to his one eye.

"Thank you," Caroline took Sam's hand and gave him an apprehensive smile. "I really can't thank either of you enough for what you've done."

Juliette smiled at Caroline and then at Caleb. She chuckled at his Batman comment, and then nodded to Sam. "All good," she assured. Things were sorted with Caroline, and she knew to call when they had decided. 

"Alright, Caleb, we need to get you home. Your dad's worried sick," she put her arm around her son and nodded to the two older mutants once more. "I'll be in touch."

Juliette waved the two of them off and watched their figures disappear into a minivan. As soon as they were out of earshot, her expression changed, and she turned to Sam, hitting him on the arm in a way that suggested no playfulness. "What the hell were you thinking? We could have taken the thing out from the outside, rather than you risking your @$&#ing life and leaving me to watch with a child!" Her brow was furrowed, and it was obvious that she was not impressed. 

She took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest, staring daggers at Sam while she waited for him to respond. 

When she shook his hand Sam knew he’d be seeing or hearing from her in the near future. The icemancer looked back to Juliette and gave a smirk then turned it into a smile when he looked back to the mother and son who were now reunited thanks to their date. Sam gave the two a little wave then turned back to Juliette sipping his cider. Who seemed less than thrilled and then he remembered what he did to get the kid free of the pumpkin.

Before he could say anything he was hit in the arm, it wasn’t a playful love tap either. He smirked, slightly knowing that’s no what she wanted to see. He kept his mouth shut but just took a step back so she couldn’t swing at him again. Clearly she didn’t like Sam showing off. ”…. Nice punch.” he instinctively took another step backward and used his free hand to take the cider so he could rub his arm.

”Soooo…. You don’t like that.” Sam said already knowing the answer, ”I got a cracked rib from the vines. That was with ice armor. I didn’t see any reason to put you in harms way if I could take care of it.” Sam said raising a hand to cut her off before she could start talking, ”I know you can handle yourself, you proved that during the hostage situation, this one however…” Sam said as ice started to coat the underside of his shirt where his ribs were cracked and his ankle which he was pretty sure he rolled when he landed.

”The pumpkin was mostly water, the blob thing was water as well. I freeze it and if you and Caleb were nearby you would have gotten frostbite or worse.” Sam then shifted his weight back off his rolled ankle, ”Besides I didn’t know what would have happened to your powers if I went all out with you nearby.” he said expressing his worry but then folding his arms as well which caused him to wince slightly from the ribs. ”I like you too much to see you hurt anyways.” Sam said shifting his gaze hoping that that was something along the lines of what she wanted to hear.

Juliette stared at Sam coldly as a hint of a smirk crossed his lips. Clearly, his actions didn't really bother him, and there didn't seem to be a lot of remorse in his voice. If they were going to keep going into fights together on the team, then they clearly needed to sort some things out.

Her expression softened when he mentioned his injuries, but only slightly. She had almost forgotten about them in the bustle of things, but that didn't really excuse his actions.

She sighed, repositioned her stance, and then started to talk again. "You know what my light form does? It makes me invulnerable. Cold, vines, bullets, whatever. I just need to know to switch. So if you're going to do something crazy, then just tell me. I can handle myself. I can defend myself. It's great that you're worried about me, but it's unnecessary, and it's only going to get in the way in the future."

Juliette took a deep breath and paused for a minute. "I know, you're probably used to not worrying about anything, but I don't exactly like seeing you get hurt either. Now, there's not a lot I can do about your ribs or ankle here, so you'll have to see the doc about that."

"Christ, Sam. Don't make me stand and watch like that again, alright?" She finished and met his eyes briefly before glancing back at Caroline's van disappearing along the road.