"You have no idea." "I mean.... well.... I guess you probably do."

Sam took a few steps back as she turned from him. He wanted to give her the space she needed for the time being as they talked. Also he could help but notice that she stiffened up when he gave her a hug, either the idea of him touching her repulsed him or something else with more meaning happened in her past. ‘That’ he thought ‘is a topic for another time’.

"Typical stuff, I guess. Other kids teasing, pulling nasty pranks and the like. Vandalized the house, treated us all like outcasts. Then Registration. That was a nightmare...."

Sam’s fist clenched when he heard of the registration, Sam was fortunate enough to miss the chaos of the camps but some of his friends however weren’t so lucky. At the time he was on the run from his past and hid out in the mountains for sometime. But when he came into a town after ditching a few of his pursuers he was flabbergasted on the current events that were going on in the supposed ‘land of the free’. One of his biggest regrets was not helping mutants escape from that god for awful scene, he knew he could have given the guards hell.

Focusing back on Amanda he started to walk towards her, “At least she made it out of there okay right? From my understanding there was a massive break out, right?” A touch of a sincere look grew on his face as he tried to catch up to her. Sam decided it was best not to tell Amanda that he wasn’t in the camps less she would think of him as a coward.

She could hear Sam following her.

“At least she made it out of there okay right? From my understanding there was a massive break out, right?”

"She got out. But.... she's not the same...." Vibe was telling her that all of the time. She was right.

Amp stopped walking, and simply stood still in the shadows.

"She never did tell me exactly what happened, but we're close enough that I could tell it was awful. After we got her back, she became kind of.... distant."

It always aided the performance when only half of the act was faked. This time, Amp had no trouble pushing out a couple of tears. She sniffed, and wiped them away, then turned back to him.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I guess I've just been on edge lately." She smiled at him. "This place really is pretty. I hope I didn't ruin it for you."

"She got out. But.... she's not the same...."

Sam didn’t respond, he didn’t know how, how would he go about making her feel better on this one? Nothing he could do or say would make this situation any better as of know she he decided to wait and listen till something came to mind. Sam continued to walk on the water as he followed Amanda. Up until she stood still. Then he to stood still. Sam looked at Amanda to try and see here face that was blurred by the shadows. He stood in the moonlight watching her waiting.

"She never did tell me exactly what happened, but we're close enough that I could tell it was awful. After we got her back, she became kind of.... distant."

Again Sam didn’t say anything, and again there was nothing he could say or do. He did however have an idea what happened to her sister that would make her seem distant, at the mansion he heard more than once some of the atrocities that the guards committed to the prisoners. It was probably best that he didn’t tell Amanda what he had heard.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I guess I've just been on edge lately." "This place really is pretty. I hope I didn't ruin it for you."

Sam walked closer to Amanda and smiled at her noticing he eyes showed the tears that she just shed. He put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. He thought about giving her a hug but the past one didn’t seem to comfort her at all in fact it gave the opposite affect. Jokingly he said, “Yeah this place is pretty but really? Didn’t think it would bring tears to your eyes.” A smile now growing on his face, “maybe your more sensitive than I thought.”

She didn't freeze this time when he placed a hand on her shoulder, since this time she was ready for it.

“Yeah this place is pretty but really? Didn’t think it would bring tears to your eyes.”

She chuckled. "Yeah, right. Me either."

“Maybe your more sensitive than I thought.”

She drew herself up to her full five-foot-three-inch height, and scowled up at six-foot him. "And if you tell anyone, I'm going to have to knock you off that icy high horse of yours."

The glare broke slightly as a smile peeked through the corners of her mouth.

"And if you tell anyone, I'm going to have to knock you off that icy high horse of yours."

Sam didn’t want to be mean but he could help but laugh as she was trying to seem as tall as him. He still towered over her at least by half a foot, “Oh yea? How you gonna do that?” Sam said teasingly as he leaned forward so he was eye level with her. He grinned as he noticed a small smile, “So I take it your having a good time, think that might have been the best smile I had seen on you even if it’s small.” he said laughing.

“So you wanted to know what else I could do right?” asked Sam with a charming grin on his face and with one of his eyebrows raised. He took a few steps back on the water and held a hand out to Amanda, “Come on.”

Amp resisted the urge to poke him in the nose when he bent down to her level. She had no issues with her height in regards to others, nor issues about remind people of that fact.

“Oh yea? How you gonna do that?”

She smirked, and crossed her arms. "I have ways." Let him think that she was only trying to look big and bad.

“So you wanted to know what else I could do right?” He stepped back, and held out a hand, his expression almost taunting. “Come on.”

"There's more?"

<"Do tell....">

She took his hand, and stepped lightly out onto the ice, wobbling a bit to regain her balance.

"There's more?"

Sam let out a small laugh, “Of course there’s more.” He found the fact that Amanda had a bit trouble starting off on the blocks of ice a bit amusing. Sam increased the out of his ability in his feet as the water around them turned to a frozen floor above the water. Sam let go of Amanda’s hand as he began to pick up speed he ran faster and faster in the water as small chunks of ice formed under his feet to increase his speed. A grin appeared on his face he loved showing off what he could do, he was proud of the fact he was a mutant and had majority of control of his abilities.

Now in the center of the pond he was safely away from Amanda so he could up his creativity a bit. He looked over to her and said, “Hope you don’t mind the cold.” He raised a hand as a cool breeze swept over the pond and as the entire pond was now covered in ice. Sam waved a hand to the a few feet from where he was standing as the ice crystals started to shoot from his hand. The ice partials reflected the moonlight as it gave off a light blue look to it; the partials arranged themselves into a large and grand fountain. He took care to be super descriptive with the design, at the bottom of the fountain small ice figures started to dance about the fountain. The figures were small but were noticeable in the moonlight as they danced about; the women wore long dresses and the men in tuxedos. The small figurines as well as the fountain almost glowed in the moonlight. He smiled with satisfaction as he walked back to Amanda as the small figures continued to dance without music in the moonlight.

Approaching Amanda he let out a small-excited laugh, “so what do you think?”

“Of course there’s more.”

Indeed there was.

“Hope you don’t mind the cold.”

Amp watched the man's chilly acrobatics with mixed interests. On one hand, use of his mutation brought out the goofy boy in Sam. The grin on his face definitely reminded her of a kid, proud to show off his school art project. He may have been twenty-three, but his maturity level so far screamed 'teenager'.

On the other hand, maturity aside, she couldn't deny he had skill. A lake completely frozen, fully manipulated ice projectiles, and a life-sized fountain complete with animated figures.

Of those all, that last bit could present a problem. She could shatter ice, she knew. It was just a matter of finding the right pitch and pumping the vibrations hard enough. She'd need to visit her sister for a vibration refill just before she attack him, so she'd be sure to have enough juice for a kill. But if he could make small dancing figures, could he make larger ones? Larger chunks of ice took longer to crack, which gave less time for a counter attack.

She'd have to think on this a bit more before deciding when to snap the trap. In the meantime, a bit more bait never hurt the catch.

"They're beautiful, Sam! So cuuu.... aah.... aaahh.... CHOoo!!" A heavy sneeze left her mouth and nose. The force of it threw off her already precarious balance on the ice, and....

.... down she went.

"They're beautiful, Sam! So cuuu.... aah.... aaahh.... CHOoo!!"

Sam smiled faded as his attention was immediately drawn to Amanda he saw the whole thing in slow motion as she started to move towards her, there was no way Sam would make it in time. Thinking quick Sam crated a large pair of hands that formed the shape of a chair so Amanda would fall right into the palm of one as her head would land on the other.

Skating over to her casually, “You okay? Would have been quite a nasty fall if you landed on the ice.” Sam had a touch of concern on his face as he looked at Amanda. “Hope I didn’t give you a cold.” Sam turned to the scene of the small dancing figurines and the blue fountain and snapped his fingers as they faded into a blue dust that reflected the moonlight. Sam stretched his hand down to Amanda in a kind gesture to help her up hoping she wasn’t mad about her falling on the ice which could have been bad if Sam’s ‘hands’ hadn’t caught her.

When Amp opened her eyes and saw that she'd been caught, and how, two thoughts ran through her mind. One, her question about Sam creating larger figures was answered, quite eloquently.

Two? This situation was just begging for a bad pun....

“You okay? Would have been quite a nasty fall if you landed on the ice.”

She looked at the icy hands supporting her weight. "This doesn't count?" she remarked, as the chilly nighttime show vanished in a cloud of blue.

“Hope I didn’t give you a cold.”

A second sneeze involuntarily left her mouth. She sniffed, and accepted the hand to her feet. She pulled a sheepish look onto her face.

"Well, if you did, I admit it was worth it." She shivered slightly, but continued to smile at him. "I probably should head home though. It's getting late."

She paused, then added. "This was fun. Thank you, Sam."

"Well, if you did, I admit it was worth it."

Sam beamed at this comment like a little kid who was being praised for doing a good job Sam was happy that someone commented on his good work. Didn’t matter how many times he heard it still brought satisfaction to his ego.

"I probably should head home though. It's getting late." "This was fun. Thank you, Sam."

Sam noticed her shivering and he started to deactivate his powers. Walking up on shore Sam looked to her and smiled, “I’m glad you had fun, so it’s safe to say I’ll be expecting a call from you soon right?” Sam tried not to look to eager when it came to asking a girl for a date but sometimes he couldn’t help himself.

<"Definitely a kid at heart,"> Amp thought to herself, seeing Sam's beaming expression. It took effort not to snerk at him. He was so clueless, it was funny.

“I’m glad you had fun, so it’s safe to say I’ll be expecting a call from you soon right?”

Again, she had to work to keep her cool. Honestly, he was just making this way too easy.

She tried to mix a bit of shyness and eagerness into her smile, while maintaining her 'toughness' by crossing her arms.

"Maybe. The phone works both ways, ya know." The invitation couldn't have been more obvious, and she had no doubt he would snap it up.

The pair of them headed back toward the street, leaving the 'snow show' behind. Despite the light-hearted chatter on the way, Amp's mind began assimilating what she was up against.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some time passed, and Amp had learned quite a bit more about Sam through numerous lunch and dinner dates. At first she enjoyed acting the giddy girlfriend, and she had to admit that he made a fairly decent boyfriend. But after two weeks, the copper-headed woman was reaching her limit of 'cutsey couple' nonsense. She'd found out, from him, as much about his mutation as his former employers knew, plus a couple things they didn't. Taking him out would be difficult, but not totally undoable. And the sooner, the better. But there was still one thing she needed to establish firmly, before she could make her attempt.

Her vulnerability. Something she'd prepared to exhibit at their lunch date this afternoon.

She was due to meet Sam at noon, in little a street cafe around the corner and within easy walking distance from her rented apartment. She'd woken up at seven that morning, had one piece of toast and a glass of water, and hadn't eaten since then. She'd tested her blood sugar once an hour, sipping just a bit of orange juice at time. The regime had left her sugar at a lovely low of seventy-one. She knew her body well; a drop of five or more points would leave her both dizzy and with blurred vision. And dropping those five points could easily be achieved by jogging the block to the cafe.

By the time Sam arrived, Amp sat at one of the tables outside. Her skin was paler than normal, and her eyes were having trouble focusing. She still attempted to smile when he approached.

Sam smiled as he walked down the street to the little café near Amanda apartment. It had been an amazing two weeks and it didn’t show signs of stopping. Everything seemed brighter as he dropped a 20 in a homeless mans cup. Sam wondered about how lucky he was and great he had it with a girl like Amanda in his life, yeah she was more independent than the girls he usually went for but that’s what made he so interesting.

Sam walked into the café that they had been to several times before. Looking around Sam spotted Amanda sitting outside looking somewhat different than her usual confident self. Maneuvering tables Sam walked outside and towards her table the closer he got the more he realized something was off she didn’t look to well. Walking by her Sam put his hand on her shoulder and leaned in to kiss her on the check as he leaned over the table and sat down across from her. Looking at her keeping eye contact Sam’s smile faded as he looked at the rest of her face, she had a weak smile on her face and her skin was paler than normal, “You feeling okay Amanda?” Sam said with a concerned tone in his voice, “you don’t look to well.” Sam’s eyes trailed back to Amanda’s and never left.

Amp leaned back slightly as he pecked her on the cheek. The edges of her vision were blurred, while the center seemed to be swaying slightly. She guessed she must have dropped more than five points during that trek.

He noticed right away something was wrong, which she found surprising. In her experience, you had to be all but fainting before men noticed something wasn't right.

“You feeling okay Amanda? You don’t look to well.”

"I'm okay," she replied, a bit of a waver in her voice. "Just tired, I think. Didn't sleep much last night. How 'bout you?"

She reached for her bag, slung on the back of the chair. "I got something for you a few days ago, but kept forgetting to give it you. Hang on."

She was having trouble with the strap. Finally it slipped off and fell to the ground. She reached for it, and nearly overbalanced off of her seat. She had to grab at the table to keep from falling. She blinked several times.

"On second thought, maybe I'm not feeling so great...." She gave Sam an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. Maybe I'd better take a rain check today...."

"I'm okay," "Just tired, I think. Didn't sleep much last night. How 'bout you?"

Sam was taken a little unsure of her response, she said she was okay but was she really? He prided himself on being different from normal guys and paid closer attention to the smaller details when he had a girlfriend just so he could avoid trouble down the line but maybe he was off this time. “I’m doing well.”

"I got something for you a few days ago, but kept forgetting to give it you. Hang on."

Sam’s heart quicken for a second, ‘was I supposed t get her something? And is there a special reason for the gift?’ Sam thought as he contemplated the ideas why she would give him a gift. Sam didn’t really say anything but he continued to gaze at Amanda trying to think of something he could make for her out of ice… lame but in past incidents the ice sculptures really won the girls over.

Sam noticed that she was moving a little more sluggish as usual as she was struggling with her bag and then it fell. ‘Something’s wrong, she sick or tired?’

"On second thought, maybe I'm not feeling so great...." "I'm sorry. Maybe I'd better take a rain check today...."

Sam shot up from his chair as he walked over to help Amanda grab her bag and give it to her, “manda if your not feeling well you should have just called me, no reason in pushing your self…” Sam looked at her for a second and started to worry a bit.