Sam sat on a bench and looked out across the grass. He unwrapped a burger that he had just purchased from a street vendor. Wagyu, sharp white cheddar, mayo, mustard, sriracha, and pickled red onions on a toasted bun. A bit gourmet but Sam had a feeling he was on borrowed time so he might as well splurge while he could.

It had been a few days since the attack on the mansion. The day Sam had sealed away that young girl’s curse. So far no one had come for him but he knew Svetlana was a sharp cookie and would puzzle out he had done it soon if she hadn’t already.

Never one to leave his fate to chance, Sam had made preparations for the coming confrontation. He was never without several prepared spells and had the cavalry on speed dial. This left him as protected as he could manage so he went about his day. Early morning to meet with an informant then do a little research before taking a late lunch in central park.

It was a nice day out so Sam felt comfortable sitting in the sun with his suit jacket on. He had a few extra napkins on hand in case his burger went rogue on him. So he ate and checked through emails on his phone. Occasionally setting the burger down on its packaging to take a drink.

Sveta had fought all kinds of criminals before, and some of them had royally managed to piss her off. Honestly, she was probably still in the vigilante business on the dl because she had some anger issues to work out. But none of that, really, measured up to what she felt about Detective Travis at the moment. The man had made a working relationship with her, they exchanged information, they had an understanding. And he used that to worm his way into Haven at the most vulnerable time, while reality was being ripped apart and a school was under siege, and... attack a toddler.

A toddler whose vigilante parents now definitely wanted Travis dead.

Sveta and Sam - a.k.a. Cold Steel - also had an understanding. Sveta never made it onto the X-team because she was too dangerous... and not upstanding enough. But Sam had kept her on the roll for cases where the X-men would have had more moral qualms.
Like this one.

This one was personal. She wanted to catch Travis and make him pay. It was also professional, because she was responsible for this goddamn disaster of a security breach. It was preventative, because she and Sam both knew Mirror was too good a person to be saddled with this. And it was emotional, because Sam all but froze her tits off, clearly blaming her for the mistake she was already beating herself up about.

Thank god Travis was an idiot. And idiot who went back to his job on the force after attacking a kid. Not very hard to track.

Sveta walked up to him in the park, because she needed to do this face to face. Sam had given her a five-minute head start, holding on to the boost she'd given him. The park was exactly five minutes away from a winter wonderland. But still not as cold as Sveta's voice.

"Travis."

Sam looked up from his phone just in time to see Sveta before she called to him in a voice that would have frozen blood in the veins of someone not prepared for it.

Waving his burger at Sveta, Sam held up a finger in the universal sign for ‘one second’. He continued to chew as he set the burger down on top of the bag it came from and reached for his drink. While he worked to clear the food from his mouth he snapped his phone over to his messages and sent a text before turning off the screen and putting the phone in his pocket.

”Howdy, Svetlana.” Sam said, wiping his hands with a napkin. ”Not a usual meeting location. Something I can help you with?” He asked face and tone asking the other question of ‘why are you in such a huff. He was all but certain of why she was there, but why give up the game. She had no proof and no one was actually harmed.

Sam looked around but didn’t see a trash can immediately near him so he stayed seated and placed the used napkin near his burger to throw away later.

Five minutes.... ”Five ****ing minutes.” he said practically in a growl to himself as he paced back and forth after Sveta left him. His powers were boosted, his rage primed and the ****er he was planning on directing it all at attacked the someone who was defenseless and about as innocent as it got. Iris.

The poor kid didn’t even know what was different just that something was. When she grabbed Sam’s hand for the first time since the stealing of her powers and nothing happened... he had to stop himself from breaking down a few times. Not just in front of the kid but Mirror and Becca. They were some of the most important people in his life.

The former assassin had trusted Sveta. Sam chose not to leave anyone there to protect the kids, both students and Iris. He had trusted her. She was to keep them safe. With Haven’s budget and herself.

It was a mistake. His and hers. He wouldn’t make that one again.

His scruff frosted over first.

Five minutes. He could give her that.

Ice started to form around him. A minute passed since she left.

The temperature dropped as he was losing his patience and focus. He was angry. The mansion was gone. His mistake. The ice that fell was the fall of the mansion.

Sam exhaled, his breath rose up as a plume of smoke. A minute and a half.

It started to snow, the grounds started to gain a hue or red and orange as his thermal sense kicked outwards.

Two minutes had passed.

Sam clenched his jaw. Lowering himself to the ground collecting the frost into full body armor. A hand of ice rose up next to him pulling the rest of the identical ice clone of the icemancer out from the frozen ground.

Two minutes and thirty five seconds.

The man he was after was an MRC agent. Trained, most likely has a fire arm or two. Knows he ****ed up good so is probably prepared. Another clone of Sam rose from the ground and mimicked the other clone and Sam’s posture in a crouch.

How many times did Mirror pull him back from the edge? Stop him from getting himself killed? Making a horrible mistake. In more ways than one? How many times did they save the icemancer? Too many, he lost track. Sam couldn’t even protect their little girl. He failed his best friend.

Three minutes.

His powers started to surge, the ice spreading forward from the influence of Svetlana’s powers. Meaning the grass beyond his normal range was started to frost over. Birds started to fly away from the effected area.

It was his fault. His mistakes that caused this to happen.

Three and a half minutes.

”F**k this. GO!” ice pillars erupted from under Sam and the two clones. Launching them high into the air towards where Svetlana was meeting Sam Travis. The one he was about to bring an ice age down upon.

Snow started falling in the same direction.

Sveta had thought for a moment that she could do this in a calm manner. She couldn't. The moment Travis raised a finger at her as if she was asking him for the time, something snapper.

"You f*** piece of sh***!" She snapped. It came out in Russian, as it always did when she was pissed. She was beyond pissed. She didn't even notice the temperature starting to drop. She drew a breath, switching to English. "Which part of your job as a goddamn cop involves attacking a toddler? How the f*** do you justify that?"

Sam responded to Svetlana’s anger by standing up. He couldn’t understand what she was saying but he certainly picked up the tone. He brought his hands up in a disarming gesture, a confused look on his face, and his phone in his hand.

”What are you talking about? I’ve never and would never attack a child.” Sam said in response to Sveta after she finally found her way back to English. ”What happened? Before Something happens that someone regrets, let’s talk.”

As Sam spoke his breath came out in mist. The temperature was dropping. He knew what that likely meant and he mentally swore to himself. Without looking at it, Sam turned on his phone, traced his lock pattern, and then with a glance at it to make sure he hit the send button correctly, sent another text message before stowing his phone.

”If you think I did something, there are proper channels. Internal affairs.” Sam could see the X-man known as Cold Steel rocketing toward them with an ice storm in his wake. Was that, multiple Cold Steels? ”Calm down!” Sam yelled to Cold Steel. ”I’m not fighting an X-man! We can clear up this misunderstanding. What toddler, how did I attack them?”

His power spread out the closer he was to them. Sveta was the first to be felt, then Travis. If it was up to him the man would have been dead before the first snowflake touched the grass. It wasn’t though. There was a chance that that he could reverse whatever he did to Iris. Give her powers back.

The icemancer laughed as the man shouted to him to calm down. That was like one of the worst ways to deescalate a situation. Especially after you forcibly altered a loved ones life. “Calm down!?!” one of the clones asked in Sam’s voice as it landed crouched low behind the man. ”Good, then this should be easy!” Sam said as he landed on Travis’s side in the same pose as the first clone. The second clone landed in front of him between him and Svetlana. “Her name is Iris!” yelled the second clone and pointed an open hand towards him. The icemen all acted in unison all pointing their hands towards the man.

The snow fall was becoming heavier. Frost coated the ground and spread out from each one of the icemen. All of it was within his range now. ”Hand’s behind your head and drop to the ground slowly. IF I SO MUCH AS HEAR OR SEE THE START OF A ****ING SPELL I’M STARTING WITH YOUR HANDS AND TONGUE!” all the ice men took one step towards the man.

>>”What are you talking about? I’ve never and would never attack a child. What happened? Before Something happens that someone regrets, let’s talk.”

The fact that Travis was playing it all innocent made Sveta's blood boil. They knew enough from the security footage. They knew enough from Iris saying baby words about keys. She'd seen him use those.

"Do us both a favor, Travis, and don't play the idiot. You're bad at it."

Steel, on his part, was out of patience. Dammit. Svetlana's breath came in a puff of mist.

>>”Calm down! I’m not fighting an X-man! We can clear up this misunderstanding. What toddler, how did I attack them?”

Steel was pissed. So were his ice clones. He had Travis cornered, and he was clearly not here to play games.

"We had an understanding. You are a goddamn MRC cop!" Sveta spat. "You better pray to whatever f*** up bigoted witch god you got that your spell is reversible, because if you took that girl's powers for good..." Sam could finish the rest.

Sure, Sam had done something to Iris but he had not assaulted her. He would never harm a child. He had made sure to keep the child happy and safe. He left the child safer for his actions. It was a genuinely offending accusation. He could only shake his head at Sveta. She didn’t understand. What Sam did was for the benefit of all people, especially the young who couldn’t control what they could do.

As the situation developed, it got worse, quickly. Cold Steel had Sam surrounded and he was irrationally angry. Sam held up his hands at chest height but did not comply with Sam’s demands.

”I’d rein that in, friend. You’re threatening an on duty law enforcement officer.” Sam said as he looked at all the icemen around him. ”And Sveta, you’re right. I am a cop. I have not assaulted anyone. Last I saw the child she was happy and healthy. Safe from the horrors of the world."

Sam’s brain was whirling. He would have to move fast if Sam acted. He rehearsed his moves in his mind. One hand would get his gun, the other a knife. He would have to hipfire and then transition to some quick knife work. He would not allow himself to be touched by Cold Steel.

”We’re all adults. Just call IA and have them join us. Settle this without anyone getting hurt. I can’t have your ice harming innocent civilians.” Sam said, his eyes going to the people who had started to gather at the edge of the winter wonderland.

The temperature in the air dropped another few degrees as the icemancer waited for the man to comply. He didn’t. Which was why it got colder. Svetlana wasn’t getting through to him either. If he had it his way the man would already be dead. Sam didn’t enjoy killing, but also knew if he didn’t Mirror or Becca would. This was for them, and Iris. They were worth ruining his own life.

”I’d rein that in, friend. You’re threatening an on duty law enforcement officer.”

”Ex-cop when I’m done with you.” he said through his teeth. If they police ever wanted Sam or the X-men working with them again they’d not only can this ***hole but make sure they drop him in a cell somewhere and throw away the keys.

His powers were boosted, meaning the clones had more capabilities in close proximity to the icemancer. “HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD” it took a step closer. “GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!” the second shouted as it too took a step closer to Travis and away from Svetlana.

Despite the frost stopping to a certain point he could still feel a few people in the distance. The X-man didn’t bother looking but started walking closer. The clones mirrored. A few of the people started pulling out phones to record the show. It didn’t matter though. This was justified, and if it wasn’t? Well he’d been in worst predicaments before.

”You are the only one in danger if you don’t comply.” the clones and Sam walked in closer. All of them mirroring each other as they moved all of them ready to attack should he try to make a break for it.

”Last warning!” Sam shouted. The clone behind Travis was the first to reach out to him.

>>”I’d rein that in, friend. You’re threatening an on duty law enforcement officer. And Sveta, you’re right. I am a cop. I have not assaulted anyone. Last I saw the child she was happy and healthy. Safe from the horrors of the world."

If she had not been sure before, she was sure now. Something in the way Travis talked about the girl... he knew what he had done. That just angered her more. To realize someone could be so completely calm about doing something so horrible.

>>”We’re all adults. Just call IA and have them join us. Settle this without anyone getting hurt. I can’t have your ice harming innocent civilians.”

Sveta glanced over. People were gathering to watch from a safe distance. No doubt expecting some supervillain showdown. New Yorkers never learned. Their city was full of random dangers, from mobs to muggings, and yet, they wanted to watch.

Sam was ready to choose violence, but Sveta held up a hand. She was not wearing a glove.

"Steel, wait." Her eyes narrowed. Something had clicked. Dangers in the city. "The kidnapping. Was that you too?"

Sam kept his hands where they were. He was making no offensive or defensive moves but was continuing to not comply with Cold Steel’s demands. One does not comply with terroristic threats.

”I’ll forget these threats if you just slow your roll and call IA. Handle this in a less destructive manner. No one here wants this to end bloody.” Sam said. He could see the writing on the wall. His hand was soon to be forced.

It was then that Sveta called for Cold Steel to wait. Sam breathed a sigh of relief that then turned to a look of surprise followed by one like he had just been stabbed in the back. Sam was pulling on his years of poker experience to keep his face how he wanted.

”No.” Sam said plainly. ”I wasn't involved in your kidnapping.”

>>>”I’ll forget these threats if you just slow your roll and call IA. Handle this in a less destructive manner. No one here wants this to end bloody.”

That wasn’t true. The icemancer was furious. Someone attacked one of his, this was no different than what the mystics did to Becca. He wanted blood. More than he got during the battle for the mansion (which they lost).

The clone stopped and pulled it’s hand back. Sam growled in his frustration the clones mirrored his sound as they all gave Svetlana another moment. SHe already had three minutes and thirty seconds. How much more did she need.

The clock was ticking though, Rime was sure he could handle the man without the boost. His ice powers usually protected him enough from magic. Unless it was the shockwave... or lighting... or an illusion. Svetlana however was gloveless. So worst case he could grab her hand again if needed.

The icemancer was really hoping he didn’t have to wait that long though.

>>>”I wasn't involved in your kidnapping.”

There was a moment where the real Sam turned his head slightly to look at Sveta. She was kidnapped? Why hadn’t she told him. Iris. He was here for Iris... and Mirror.

The clones stood at the ready, ”I’m done waiting!” one of the clones shouted. ”See I really do want to make this bloody.... I’m really ****ing pissed. You choose to remove her powers. That wasn’t your call to make!” they could talk later when they had him in custody. Rex or... god forbid Afoie could help him restrain the magic. They would understand, might even help him.

The clone behind Travis lunged forward as the other clone and Sam charged at Travis trying to encircle and trap him. Only a clone needed to touch him for a second if he couldn’t get his hands on him.

There was a moment of calm after the mention of the kidnapping, but it was short lived. The group of Cold Steels all erupted into a cacophony of annoyance. Baseless claims, that were right on the money, but unprovable and that’s what mattered.

The moment the Cold Steel’s began to move, Sam sprang into action. His mental rehearsals—and actual practice over the last several years—had greased the proverbial wheels in the mental pathways of his motions. With speed and precision, Sam drew his service pistol from a hip holster and rocked the barrel up at his hip. While he did that his second hand produced a knife.

Shots rang out as Sam hammered the trigger as quickly as he could transition. Firing on all the Cold steels and at Sveta as the muzzle passed her. Each shot ensorcelled to mitigate the mutant gene. After making a full spin and firing at all targets, Sam sliced the blade against his jacket and pants. A light flashed as the blade passed through them without damaging them. As he slashed he threw himself to the side to avoid a Cold Steel lunging at him.

Sam hit the ground and slid like he had landed on a slip and slide he let go of the knife as he slid. With an unpracticed hand he caught himself and arrested his momentum so he could stand up several yards away.

”Stand down! I’m NYPD and that is an order!” Sam pointed the pistol back at the closest of the Cold Steel’s and drew another knife with different sigils engraved into it than the first.

Your kidnapping.

He claimed it wasn't him, and yet he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Motherf***" Sveta spat, but Sam was faster. There was no talking now. Travis had tried to shield himself with his status as a cop, which just made it all worse. This was not MRC was for. This was not even what cops were for.

Travis fired several round. Sveta ducked out of the way on instinct, narrowly avoiding a hit. For lack of better cover, she ducked behind the bench Travis had been sitting on, and drew her own gun.

"You are a goddamn criminal!"