Sam suddenly felt older than he was by that comment and raised an eyebrow in Liz’s direction. Still in his thirties he didn’t want to point it out further and let him know the comment threw him off. ”Guess I am old now.” he grumbled. His younger version of himself called his current self ‘old man’. His high from the apprehension started to fade as he looked from Liz over to Simon and more importantly Tiffany Diamond, model supreme. Liz wasn’t going to take this from him.

The woman with the knife didn’t stand out too much of a threat to Sam so he kept his mouth shut as Liz demanded for the knife to be kicked over. Important phrasing was key in situations like this. Otherwise she could just hand over the knife with a final stabbing. (He had seen it before).

Tapping his earpiece to radio the two officers who were probably napping he cleared his throat, ”This is Sam Johnson. AKA Cold Steel, we have located and recovered Tiffany Diamond...” Sam stopped and looked her up and down as Liz and Simon tagged teamed the old lady, ”She seems unharmed.” his gaze might have been more than just checking her out, ”We also apprehended the kidnappers. I’ll need a few squad cars to this location....” Sam took a step towards the cooler listing off their location and how many people would need to be brought in for questioning.

“What did you do to my dog!?!” Tiffany asked aloud as Simon stood guard next to Liz making sure the mean old woman was leashed. ”Don’t worry Miss Diamond, Sundance just needed his help to find you.” he said explaining now that he was no longer calling in backup. ”Also can I get your autograph again?” he asked smirking. ”Still a huge fan.”

Liz tied the final end of the leash around a leg of a very sturdy and heavy display shelf and then retreated from the woman’s kicking range. The lady was still tough and honestly, Liz didn’t feel like fighting anymore. Besides, Sam could create an ice jail around the lady if she did anything he didn’t like - Liz wasn’t sure of the precision of his powers but with the invigorating chill in the room, she knew it was definitely cold enough for him to know everything that was going on.

Which meant she could relax.

Liz patted Simon on the head. “Good boy,” she said. “You did well.” She withdrew from his mind and immediately, his protectiveness diminished. He licked her hand once and then bounded back over to his mom and began washing her face and barking and whining and lavishing her with love and kisses.

The dog taken care of, Liz directed her attention to the woman and approached her, ignoring Sam entirely. “Hello, Ms. Diamond, my name is Liz,” she said politely. “I apologize for the liberties I took with Simon. I’m an animal psychic and a colleague of Cold Steel and X-Men.” It was true, although it probably implied some things that weren’t exactly true, just as Liz’s total lack of law enforcement background. “And Simon helped us track you down. He’s such an amazing and wonderful dog and he thinks the world of you!”

Sam gave Liz a brief thumbs up in agreement when she said he was a good boy. The icemancer could also listen to an argument as the best but he was biased. Taking a step back to soak in the show of affection Simon had for his smoking hot owner and was suddenly excited to go home and see Bruno. No matter how long he was gone or where he was that dog was always excited to see him. Bruno was Sam’s best boy.

Tiffany Diamond international model sensation and one of the woman on Sam’s hypothetical ‘Hall Pass’ eyed the icemancer for a second before ignoring him outright as Simon her dog approached. She leaned over still in shock from the days events buried herself in her dog who was whining and licking her face exited that she was back. She cried as she tired to hug her dog. The tears being lapped up as they fell. Simon’s tail continued to wag excitedly as he turned to Liz and Sam then looking back to his owner as if to show her off.

The team leader of the X-men didn’t need Liz’s abilities to know what he was thinking. ”I mean, I can’t blame him.” he said to Liz, ”She’s Tiffany Diamond.” he threw his hands up again still geeking out a bit, ”I still can’t believe it.” he said shaking his head giving it a moment before he asked for her autograph again.

Normally Sam didn’t care where the credit was going to, however he was tempted to correct Liz and point out without him he wouldn’t have called her to get Simon to find her. He held his tongue though. Letting everyone have there moment. Pulling at his shirt he tore a small section off and offered it to Liz, ”Mild huh?” he asked smirking. ”Sure you don’t want on the team? Starting to sound like me.” he smirked.

Liz accepted the rudimentary bandage from Sam and then...grimaced and pressed it against the wound. It was highly unlikely to be sterile and it was a bit damp already (and Liz didn’t want to explore that any further in her mind, leaving it at leftover ice armor water) and it offended so many of her sensibilities as a scientist and as a person who liked cleanliness!

But Liz didn’t have many other choices. She could search around for a first aid kit (if there was one) but it would take time and the aggressors were highly unlikely to tell her the location. Besides, there was a perk to living at a mutant school - constant access to a mutant healer. He could probably handle infections too, so Liz bit the bullet and just started to apply pressure.

Because her adrenaline was starting to wear off and since she’d cut herself off from Simon’s mind, she no longer had access to his happiness to lose herself in. She sucked in her breathe with a small gasp and immediately opened her mind back up to Simon’s in order to siphon off some other feelings.

“Yes, mild,” she hissed. “Still have full functionality, just bleeding.” And it was probably going to hurt even more in the next few minutes so might as well get started on the self distractions. And banter was an excellent distraction.

Keeping an eye on Tiffany and a psychic eye on Simon, Liz forced herself to speak quite casually, “And that is just another reason for me to not join the team. Let’s see, I barely held my own against an old lady with a knife and am now bleeding. You took on...three guys, was it? And I believe one had a shotgun?... and incapacitated all of them without taking a scratch. Give me a call if the Pied Piper comes to town, but otherwise I’m better in a classroom.”

”Most people can’t handle a little old lady with a knife.” he waved his hand walking to the door waiting for the wonder police to arrive. A few lights started to appear as a few officers quickly arrived to the scene a few of them waving pedestrians along so they could no doubt close off the scene of the crime.

Turning his head to the little old lady Sam continued, ”Little more training and she’ll seem like nothing.” the old lady grumbled something in mandarin and Sam ignored that. He already read her rights, that was going to be used against her. ”and yeah it was only three but I’m me so I could have handled a few more.” he said bragging a bit, ”I was also trained as a kid to kill.” that one wasn’t a brag.

”I also have a more versatile mutation.” he summed up. ”Shotguns only do so much to my ice armor but I was thinking more, ‘hands off’ for you. I’m thinking about pushing some other special teams forward. More geared towards ‘Search and Rescue’.” he said air quoting the ‘Search and Rescue’.

The door dinged and a few officers charged in with their hands on their weapons ready to access the situation. Sam waved them in and then pointed to the two kidnappers on the ground. Then pointed to Tiffany and then to the cooler explaining what to expect when going down the cooler entrance. An ambulance was next on scene.

Sam moved his attention back to his new ‘good cop’ ”I never thought the team should be a bunch of people like me, we’re supposed to remind people they don’t need to be afraid of us. Kinda hard when you see me kicking @@@ all the time. Just give it some thought Sundance.” he smirked, ”Sides, Pied Piper is a great code name for you.” he smirked opening the door for her.

Liz scoffed a bit. She couldn’t completely help herself. She didn’t need the ego stroking or false praise. She knew her skills weren’t up to par with Sam’s estimation. Who couldn’t take down a knife-wielding elderly woman? Faces flashed before her of the people she knew who could easily do it. Becca, Carrick, Serena, her ex, Maya, Shin, Detective Cervantes, and so many others…

…who also happened to be people with advanced training or offensive mutations or a combination of both. Which Sam was further elaborating on. His power was uniquely suited for detection, defense, and incapacitation, in addition to his...dark history. Liz cocked her head as she processed the information. It was...possible that Liz was not unbiased in the situation. When you’re surrounded continually by people on the high end of the bell curve, it had a tendency to skew results.

“Touche,” she finally said. That was something to consider. Besides, she didn’t think she would’ve been able to handle the woman two years ago. She’d come a long way, pushed by some of those same stellar people. But there was still so much to go. And Sam’s line of thinking struck a nerve in her. She’d never seen herself as an X-Woman. But search and rescue? It’s one of the many things she trained dogs to do.

She was mulling it over as the authorities arrived and Cold Steel did his job as an X-Men, briefing the cops on the situation. Finally, when she could leave she proceeded Sam and made her way to the ambulance were a paramedic began checking her arm. “You make some good points,” she told Sam as the woman went to snag proper bandages. “That sounds….I’d be interested in hearing more on your thoughts on the subject.” The paramedic came back. “But after this is over.”

And then she smirked and shook her head. “Good grief, no! I haven’t touched a clarinet in eight years, much less a pipe. I fear I’d be run out of town if I tried a Piper shtick!” But the name brought up other things inside of her, another name she’d been called once, back on that strange night in November. She could still hear it sometimes in the hour of the wolf. Met--

“Aww, who’d be afraid of you?” she teased. “You’re such a softie. Why, I’m surprised your power isn’t the ability to make soft-serve ice cream!”

”I do have a tendency to make them.” he agreed with a smirk as the door closed behind him. Tiffany Diamond and Simon followed shortly after with a few officers guiding them to the other ambulance that arrived shortly after the first one. Sam gave them a final wave before turning his attention back to Liz, who was sporting the mild laceration.

”I was thinking more a pan flute, more of an niche instrument.” he laughed not wanting to see the streets littered with rats. Then again maybe New York City could finally be rid of them, but then where would they go?

”Shaved Ice, and I’d need to walk around with flavoring and I don’t like to advertise I have a soft side. Makes it that much easier to intimidate people not to fight me.” his smirk widened more. ”Just something to think about, the X-men not me becoming a shaved ice vendor.” he laughed a little as the ambulance driver they were heading to rushed towards Liz and Sam and then not Sam when he pointed to Liz.

”Good work today Liz. You handled yourself pretty well in the situation. I think our next training session I’ll be using bladed weapons. Not real ones, practice what you want to perform right?” he asked, ”You think you can get a ride home from here or you want a lift?” he asked icing over his lower torso and hands. ”I got a few stops I need to make before heading back to the mansion. More than welcome to join me, especially if I get another call for a rescue.” he smirked having an idea she wouldn’t be interested.

“I’m neither a satyr nor a shadowless flying boy,” Liz laughed. Imagine her prancing down the streets with a horde of animals behind her, all attracted by her merry music-making! Ridiculous, but in the best of ways. It kept her mind off the sting of applied antiseptic the paramedic was using.

“I dunno,” she mused. “I really do think you’re missing your true calling. What better way to save someone than by beating the heat with instant snow cones?” Her eyes glimmered and then she hissed a bit as a bandage started being applied. She did give Sam a nod of acknowledgement though - she wouldn’t dismiss the serious suggestions out of hand. In light of the new research thrust, she was willing to revisit her prior conclusions on the subject.

Even if her 15-year old self would’ve laughed at the very notion. Liz hid a private smile.

“Sounds good. And thank you,” she said to Sam in a business-like fashion before glancing at the paramedic, who was suddenly looking a bit worried. “Sorry, he’s my martial arts instructor,” Liz told the woman hastily. “Looks like I’m about to move up a level!” Even though they weren’t using an official level system such as belts. But Liz didn’t care about the certification for that, at least not at the moment. She wanted the skills first - she’d get official certification another time.

The blonde waved at the cryomancer dismissively. “No, you go on and do your thing,” she said breezily before sighing. “It was nice to stretch my legs, but it’s best that I see the Doc as soon as possible to get this arm taken care of--not that you’re not doing an excellent job!” she quickly told the woman who arched an eyebrow and then kept at the bandage.

A bit embarrassed, Liz shrugged at Sam. “Besides, I still have a stack of papers on my desk to grade. I’ll just grab an Uber but if you need another dog whisperer you know how to find me.”