Becca was officially off the active team roster. That meant no field missions unless the world was ending, and even then, only for self-defense. After psychic witches, other dimensions, and freaking Antarctic dinosaurs, Mirror was not about to let the pregnant girlfriend go in the field. Nope.

With that said, the random powers were still happening. Some were definitely easier to manage than others. So, even though Becca was off the active team, she needed to get some training in, to learn how to handle her new - borrowed - baby powers. Begrudgingly, even Mirror agreed with this, but after their first attempt at a DR session, Becca decided Mirror worried entirely way too much, and thus was no help at all.

So now, Maya was exiled to the God Room, and Becca found herself another training partner.

This was gonna be painful to watch.

The icemancer shifted uncomfortably in his workout gear looking to the mother to be. Wondering why it had to be with her. He had nothing against Becca, in fact he enjoyed seeing her and was more than comfortable training with her but if he had to train against her he’d be a little more hesitant. Not because she was pregnant but because she was Becca and he didn’t want to hurt her, she was nice.

He looked up to the god room and put his hands behind his head. ”Ummmm… How fragile is she?” he looked back to Becca and smirked. ”I don’t know why you got to watch us. Gonna be hard to perform, I get stage fright.” he joked and then walked over to Becca and offered a fist bump.

”She always such a pain?” he asked smirking. ”What kind of training we doing today?” Sam asked excitedly.

The safety of Becca’s baby was more important than anything, but that did not make it suck any less to be grounded. Becca loved being in the field as Valkyrie. Now that she was relegated to comms and training, she was getting a little stir crazy.

Of course, even without the baby, her powers were haywire. She would be benched regardless while she figured her magnetism out again. Those were not the only powers she had access to right now, though.

She was not on the active team, but it was always possible trouble found Becca anyway. She wanted to practice, not just with fighting powerless, but to get the hang of her borrowed powers thanks to her gift baby. She only had a day with each power before it returned to the randomizer, so she had to make the most of them when they were present.

That meant serious training, which Maya, blessed love of Becca’s life, was not prepared to offer her. Maya meant well, but she was clearly handling Becca with kid gloves. With that, she called on Sam to be her training partner today, after a squabble that allowed Maya to play overwatch.

Today, Becca’s hands felt very stiff. When she cracked her knuckles, they cracked hard, likely due to the stony, craggly exterior she saw from her forearms down to her fingers.

Sam clearly read the concern emanating from the God Room. She returned the fist bump and added a toothy grin. ”Ah’m nae abit tae break. She’s jist feelin’ cautious. Abit me an’ th’ baby. Ah’m sure in her shoes, Ah’d be up there, tay. Sae be nice, Rime.” Maya was being over-protective, but they had always agreed to protect one another. Becca would not have her girlfriend bullied for doing so now.

”Today’s session coulda been hand-tae-hand, bit Ah dinnae want tae smack ye aroond wi’ boulder fists,” she joked. ”Sae instead, two person scenario. Burning buildin’, group ay arsonists. Gotta save civilians, take it th’ arsonist squad, put it th’ fires.” Sam could put out some fires with his powers, but he could not use them indiscriminately if there were civilians in the area, keeping things challenging.

Thankfully, Valkyrie’s costume was made of a flame-retardant fabric and she was wearing extra padding on her body to prevent any major trouble with her stomach. Even the program was altered with the minor stipulation to avoid Becca’s stomach when attacking her. She wanted rigorous training, but she was not stupid.

Maya knew that she was probably overreacting like, 75%... or 60... maybe like 53?... but Sam's smirk was sure as hell not helping. She ran through the coding again, checking the safety protocols on Becca not getting hit in the stomach, or hit hard at all in general. The DR could be hella realistic when it wanted to be.

”Ummmm… How fragile is she? I don’t know why you got to watch us. Gonna be hard to perform, I get stage fright.”

"That's my girlfriend and baby you are talking about!" Maya snapped through the comm. Becca didn't seem to mind.

>>”She always such a pain? What kind of training we doing today?”

"I can hear you!"

>>”Ah’m nae abit tae break. She’s jist feelin’ cautious. Abit me an’ th’ baby. Ah’m sure in her shoes, Ah’d be up there, tay. Sae be nice, Rime.”

Rime. Maya was just coming around to using Cold Steel in the field again, and now teen Sam had to go and change it. It sounded weird. Maya frowned, folding her arms as Becca explained the scenario they had agreed on.

"Ready to start when you are. The building's on a timer. Don't do stupid shit, and don't push yourself too hard, okay?" she warned them, but Becca mainly, before she started the simulation.

”Yeah, I know. Why I said it.”

The icemancer smirked when Maya snapped back at him. The smirk quickly faded when Becca asked him to nice. ”Uggghhh fine… only cause you used my code name.” Sam said smirking again. While he would have enjoyed to upset Maya more he didn’t want to upset Becca. She didn’t deserve it. She believed in him not his older self, meaning when she made a request he’d do what he can to make it happen.

”I won’t push myself.” Sam agreed before he looked to Becca and smiled then yelling up to the god room and Maya, ”Pretty bold implying your girlfriend would do something stupid.” Sam laughed and tapped his shoes before getting into a ready stance.

”Ready. X-Men training so no killing right?” Sam joked knowing he’d get a rise out of someone. X-Men weren’t supposed to kill. He however was still fresh from his years in T.A.T. meaning killing was encouraged. No witness no problem.

Sam raised an eye to Becca and smirked, ”Rock n’roll!” Sam grabbed Becca in a one armed hug and launched the two of them towards the building ice only appearing under their feet when gravity started to take over.

”You good with fire? What about cold?” Sam asked knowing it wouldn’t be as good as him unless the rock looking skin made her immune to heat. When they reached the front entrance via ice slide Sam went right to the door blasting it with cold and running through it. His body already icing over and generating cold in every direction.

For all the trouble he could be, and darned if he did not love to make trouble, Sam was not a hard guy to handle. He wanted to be respected and validated like anyone else, and using his unique codename helped her do that. Even when she was not teaching, sometimes that Education Minor came in handy.

Maya’s warning came down from the God Room after a bit of bickering with Rime and dear God, she was going to have to get these two playing nice at some point. ”It’s nae bold. Maya knows me better than anyain; she knows for a fact Ah’m prone tae daeing stupid things in th’ field.” Valkyrie would argue she was bold and proactive, but the end of the day, Mirror could argue she just threw herself shield-first into any bad situation.

Getting ready for the program to start, Sam’s question seemed so obvious before Becca remembered his upbringing. ”Aye, no killin’ unless it cannae be avoided, an’ Ah have faith in yer ability tae gie th’ job done withit it.”

The simulation kicked off, with Rebecca already feeling the waves of heat coming off the building. She pulled up a facemask that was added to her fire-proof uniform and scanned the scene for their best way in.

Rime, of course, being young and proactive, wasted no time in grabbing her and gliding them toward the front door of the problem. She rolled her eyes as they smashed into the building. ”Ah’ll be fine, bit nae gettin’ handsy, Ah can move mahself.” That said, that was a pretty quick way to move. ”Though thinkin’ meant we couldsa made an ice pillar or somethin’ up toward th’ floor wi’ the most fire.”

Turning back to look at the front door behind them, a pillar fell in front of the door along with some ceiling, blocking it off. Evidently, the Danger Room thought that plan would have been cheating, or fate was just funny. Freeing herself from Rime’s grasp once they were inside, she took in the first floor which was not as burnt to a crisp as she might have expected. The fire did not start here, it spread here.

”Okay, keep yer frosty aura aroond us tae block off some ay th’ heat, bit dorn’t gie crazy wi’ it an’ give a victim permafrost.” This was an occupied building, so they were looking for survivors.

No killing. One thing he had a love hate relationship with the X-team was this. While it was easy to kill for Sam he didn’t like to do it if he had a choice not to. He liked the fact that the X-men were so opposite of T.A.T. while they highly encouraged to kill, the X-men highly encouraged not to.

”Heat rises.” Sam said, ”sides if the fires on the other floor weaken the building enough it doesn’t matter where the fire guys are if the whole thing collapses right?” he said doing what was requested and directing the hardest of the cold away from her. Sam blasted every large flame he could find and even coated the walls in ice to help slow the existing burns.

When she requested not to freeze someone he almost laughed. While he could direct his powers in every direction there was something to say about movement. He’d redirect his powers if he spotted someone moving. Which was why Becca wasn’t coated in ice as well. Just the cold.

Thermal vision however had some other ideas. While older Sam was far more experienced with it his younger self was not and every time he directed a beam of cold out he quickly got hit with a splitting headache, which caused his visions to overlap. Going from normal vision to thermal in a burning building was a sure fire way to cause him to get distracted. ”Someone in that closet.” he said as he staggered to a wall and leaned up against an ice over wall.

Actively he turned it off again and tried to suppress his thermal vision. While it was helpful in most cases it slowed him down and confused the heck out of him. Sam just hoped there was an actual person in one of the closest.

Rime did make a point, but it did not change that he was quick to snap to action. That was important in a life or death situation, but she wanted to make sure they made cautious choices. They had to act quick, but when time was of the essence, they had to make the right moves in their limited time.

The young man had stable control of his powers, which was good to see. From what they understood, the de-aged did not lose powers or experience diminished effects, but that did not account for how much training went into mastering a power. Valkyrie could not use her own powers without destroying most of what might be around her, and that was with years of training. If she was a teenager again with these powers, she might do something stupid and end up killing herself and the rest of the Mansion.

Moving toward the staircase, Rime brought another priority to her attention. Someone was in the closet, supposedly, though looking back to Rime, something else seemed to make him struggle. She pivoted toward the door. "Noted. Ye holdin' up fine o'er there?"

The metal knob was hot, but Valkyrie barely noticed with her new hands. It was, however, locked. Not wanting to waste any time, she formed a fist and slammed it down into the handle. It was a test, and as she hoped, she barely felt it as she collided with the metal with enough impact to break the knob from the weakened door. Pulling the busted door back, there was a woman in a business suit on the ground. Why was she in the closet? Realistically, even the Danger Room could make weird choices during random procedural generation.

Regardless, she offered a hand and lifted the woman. The victim noticeably winced when Valkyrie grabbed her, reminding her of the hard texture and added strength of her hands. She made a concerted effort to keep her grip loose as she led the woman to Rime and handed her off. "We dinnae hae a way tae gie her it oan thes floor, sae we need tae gie upstairs an' look fer a way tae gie her an' any other victims itside. Can ye see any mair oan thes floor?"

He wasn’t. His head hurt now. Despite being in a burning building he was more pissed his powers were hindering him on a mission than anything else. How many years was control beaten into him. How many years did he have to have control over his abilities or die and now a simulated hard light constructed room was making his head feel like it was going to explode. ”Fine.” Sam said with a half smirk and thumbs up. ”New me, new powers.” he said pushing himself off the wall glad someone was actually in the closet and he wasn’t just wasting time.

”You good?” Sam asked looking around on the floor they were on and not seeing anyone immediately. He didn’t want to kick on the thermal vision again. There was too much heat coming from the floors above. It was like staring into the sun and he didn’t want to loose any vision thermal vision wasn’t as good as normal vision. For example he wouldn’t have been able to see Becca break a handle off the door like it was nothing. Cool.

The exit was indeed blocked, he didn’t’ need thermal to figure that out. Sam pushed himself from the wall and looked to the stairs that were less on fire. ”Can always make a ramp from a window.” Sam said confidently. When she asked again he made a visible wince like she was asking to fish into a clogged sink. He didn’t know what she was asking and while he normally would have done it he would have kept his mouth shut. He didn’t like advertising his shortcomings with his mutation. Because this was the first time he had any.

However, this was Rime and he was talking to Becca so, ”I can try. Fire is messing with it too much but…” Sam raised his hands and shot ice too the ceiling and walls trying to thicken it enough to at least block some of the heat out. The temperature got lower and he felt fro anyone else. The barrier only dimmed the heat. He could feel it above growing in heat.

”Shit.” Sam cut the thermal vision and ran past into another one of the rooms that had less damage. Just smoke. His shoulder iced over ran through the door and walked out with… small teenage clutching a cat. ”All I could feel.” he said reluctantly. If he could have he would have searched longer. She didn’t like relying on the unstable part of his mutation. It was clear it made him second-guess himself. In his opinion it was more harm than good.

”I’ll lead.” Sam said stepping out from behind his ice armor and forming a new one on his person. The ice clone followed carrying the teen and cat as Sam gave Becca a thumbs up as he hit the stairs. His eyes shifting for any signs of danger as he extinguished every flame that he saw.

Training to use your powers was an important lesson for the X-Men and mutants in general. Sam had to learn control of the finer aspects of his powers, which were exponentially stronger than he remembered. When Becca finally had her baby, she would be doing the same; going out into some desert somewhere and test her magnetic abilities, keeping far away from buildings and cars she could destroy. Great power and great responsibility were cliches, but there was a real difference between being an unstoppable force versus a controlled power.

Valkyrie was good, all things considered. She did not feel the heat of the knob as she smashed it. Her hand felt numb to the outside world, though she could feel her hand internally. The stone was exterior, but within her hand, it felt like she had normal human parts, if not a little more sturdy.

A ramp from the window was a good solution. Safer than any other options they had on their plates. ”That’s guid. We’ll gie ‘em tae th’ next floor an’ gie ‘em tae th’ groond.” At least they had a plan.

Thermal sight was a challenge for Rime in the circumstances, but he was willing to give it a shot. ”Dinnae strain yerself. Jist try tae focus yer vision; limit it, loch squintin’ tae shut it some ay th’ world.”

The effort went rewarded with another victim and her cat. The Danger Room liked cliche, sympathetic victims. ”Well, ye found her! And we cannae spend aw our time on thes floor searchin’ wi’ people spreadin’ th’ fire mair. Gotta save who we can.” If they spend their time scanning the first floor, people could be dying on the fifth. The unfortunate truth: saving everyone was the goal, but not always possible.

Valk would not fight Rime taking the lead, particularly with his powers. They made their way up the stairs, which thankfully held up for them. They carefully proceeded through the halls and Valkyrie called out to victims to call if they were trapped. A shouting voice from a room prompted Valkyrie to push open the door, immediately shielding herself with her hands against the burst of heat.

The man in the room was pinned by a hot wooden beam. At the end of the hall, there was also a large window. This was promising. ”Rime, ramp doon our first rescues. Ah’ll help free thes man an’ gie back wi’ ye.” This was a logical place to split up, and they would stay close.

Which was good, as two men with flamethrowers and flame-retardant suits were running down the stairs toward their floor.

While he liked having Becca there giving him advice he found it almost more of a distraction than anything else he remembered when he was a kid and when he tried to control his abilities there was no words of support or comfort. Rather a time limit and some kind of negative reinforcement. They quickly found a collar and some blood work was always a good motivator to Sam. He suddenly wished she was around when he was younger, but he quickly changed that thought. He got ten years, not a lifetime and to wish anyone was there with him during those times… he couldn’t do that to anyone.

Rime didn’t like hearing that. He didn’t like hearing that he’d have to let some people go. Can’t save everyone? Fine he’d get stronger better. The amount of times he leveled a facility, everyone dead just because he was told to. IF everyone could die then they could all be saved right? That’s why he stayed at the mansion, why he was still there. Both versions. He still had a long way to go to restore some kind of balance on the life and death scales and he wasn’t going to stop till he could save everyone. Even if it was just once that would be enough for him.

”Yes ma’am.” Sam said taking the guiding the three victims of the fire they found. The ice clone and the kid and kitten were already at the window. The floor was safe enough maybe due to all the ice or maybe due to the fact that the fire hadn’t been as bad on the first floor. Sam scooped the woman Becca found earlier and ran her to the window. He set her down when she was there.

Sam’s fist punched through the glass then his ice clone jumped from it leaving the kid and cat behind with Sam. Once the clone was on the ground it took a few steps back to help catch everyone from the new ice slide that Sam was currently creating. ”All right, keep you hands and feet inside the slide at all times. Do not try getting up till you reach the goo looking guy at the bottom.” Sam said trying to cut his stress with some jokes. How he survived this long.

One after another he picked them up and sent them on the way of the slide it was curved so they couldn’t fall off just slide right to his clone. Sam looked back and shot some beams of ice at nearby flames as he noticed that two men in flame retardant suits went to where Becca was helping the other victim. ”Company!” Sam yelled shooting out fires hoping Becca could hear him before he could get there.