Grinning from ear to ear Sam nodded and said, “You bet I do, some ones got to help give mutants a good name right?” looking from the paper back to Lee, “I just happen to have more motivation than others not to mention I have a knack for being in the right place at the right time.” Sam neglected to mention him patrolling certain parts of the city that seem to have more crime that others.

Letting out a small laugh at her next comment Sam joked, “Look mom I’ll go to bed when I am ready to go to bed.” He paused then smiled waving his hand slightly, “I know what I am doing really, and you don’t have to worry about me.” Lower his hands to the paper Sam then looked down pretending to read the paper, “But thank you for worrying about me,”

The next thing struck Sam as odd it was something they both had in common, well a younger version of Sam and Lee had in common. Sam didn’t look at her when he spoke this time or had a smile on hi face, “Better passing out than turning to ice before your eyes…” Sam’s fingertips turned to ice and he began tracing a line around in a figure eight motion on the table, “But that's a story for another time.”

Smiling once again Sam continued to trace his finger in the eight motion, “I think you should always be happy,” Sam paused then said, “Time waiting is time wasted, live for now and deal with the problem when the time comes.”

This was a motto Sam had lived by since he was a kid, growing up not being able to predict what’s waiting in the darkness around a corner you had to be good at improvising and quickly adapting to the situation other wise you wouldn’t last long.

Sam got back to questioning Lee again, “Alright I’ll bite, why are you so happy now opposed to when I last saw you?” he waited eagerly as he continued to trace an eight motion on the table.

Lee just shook her head at Sam's comment about his hero mindset. She personally didn't see what the lure of playing the hero was, especially when, like with the incident Sam had pointed out in the paper, it was out in public. But then again, maybe that was because of Lee's experience about what tended to happen when people found out about her powers. In general, it was better to not let people know about what she could do.

But, Lee knew that Sam was a good person, more than willing to help people.

Sam then proceeded to laugh at her worrying about him. At least that was better than what Tarin did when she started worrying too much; the tone was quite similar, though the tone was very different. Unlike Tarin, Sam seemed to appreciate her worry, thanking her even though by that time he had lowered his eyes to the paper he had pulled back toward him.

Now Sam was drawing a figure eight on the table with his finger as he continued to speak, and Lee let her eyes watch his progress, watched the fine coating of ice cover the tables as he went. "Should I always be happy, or is that people in general should always be happy?" Lee asked with a slight smile on her face, her eyes still on Sam's hand.

“Alright I’ll bite, why are you so happy now opposed to when I last saw you?”

Lee's eyes shot up to Sam's again at this question. "You mean other than the obvious?" Lee asked in return. The last time they had seen each other had been because of Tarin merging, after all. Not exactly the best situation for happiness, after all. "But like I said, I decided to give in and let myself be happy," Lee continued, though her eyes dropped back to the table, a light flush crossing her cheeks. "We went to Texas to see Tarin's mother over Christmas, then drove up to Vegas and got married."

"Should I always be happy, or is that people in general should always be happy?"

Smiling Sam shrugged, “Personally I think that everyone should be happy, but seeing as that isn’t always possible I do believe that my friends should be happy, and normally I would do what I can to help them when it is possible.” He smiled as he continued the figure eight on the table, the ice now getting taller only by a little bit with each pass.

Looking somewhat confused about the next comment that Lee had said Sam’s lip twitched before it turned into a smile, “Really?!?” asked Sam in somewhat disbelief, “That's awesome, to think I didn’t even get an invite to the wedding.” Sam teased as he looked down at the figure eight made of ice and then made it dissolve.

Sam noticed the color in her cheeks, “Must have been a good time in Vegas your still blushing a bit.” Sam laughed a little and then grinned, “So does that mean Tarin in a better mood?” Sam wasn’t sure if he crossed the line with the joke but figured she might find it comical considering Tarin always gave off the impression that he wanted to beat Sam’s face in.

Lee had to agree that what Sam said was right; it wasn't always possible for everyone to be happy, and she herself had been in that position for a long time. The majority of the time since she had figured out about her powers, in fact. Not that she had necessarily been unhappy that whole time, but Lee couldn't exactly have been considered happy, either. But now that she was with Tarin, apparently friends such as Sam, and even more surprising to her, family that actually cared about her, Josh and Tarin's mother, as well as her own sister Rachael, there really wasn't a reason for her to not be happy, was there?

Sam actually seemed happy to hear about her and Tarin's marriage, though he did poke at her about the fact that he hadn't been invited. The fact that he seemed perfectly ok with it somewhat surprised her; hadn't Sam been more than a little interested in her himself thanks to those quasi-dates they had gone on while she and Tarin hadn't been together?

But Lee's whole mind wasn't thinking about that surprise. Part of it had been drawn back to thoughts of her wedding night, and that wonderful night under the Texas sky, the main reason for the light flush that had crossed her face.

"Well, we decided to do it very early on Boxing Day, and were married the next day," Lee said, in part explaining why Sam hadn't been invited, in part telling him how it had been. "The only reason we waited that long is because it took forever to drive to Vegas, and we took Tarin's brother's car, so that's part of why he was invited.

"And, I kinda left your number here in New York," Lee continued, raising her eyes to look at Sam again. "Didn't exactly think I'd need it while I was in Texas, you know?"

But then Sam laughed at her blush, and Lee couldn't stop the momentary glare she directed at him. It was impossible for Lee to remain mad with those kind of thoughts going through her head, though, even if it was highly embarrassing for Sam to point things like that out.

"Yes, he is," Lee said, not willing to verbally respond to Sam's comments about Las Vegas. The increase in her blush was probably more than enough, there. "He was in a really weird funk after," Lee paused for a split second, her eyes dropping to the table momentarily. "Well, you know. I think getting out of the city helped Tarin find himself again."

Sure Sam still had a little spark left over from the time before her and Tarin got back together but the fact that he was happy that she got married made Sam think he no longer had feelings for her. That or he was happy that she was taken so he wouldn’t have second thoughts about him and Leila. Sam gave a mental shrug and thought, ‘could be the ladder’ thinking that both answers were as likely as the last.

“Your telling me my number isn’t in your phone?” Sam asked pulling his out and scrolling down to Lee’s name and then showing it to her. “Got you in the phone book!” said Sam with a small nod. “But that’s fine you didn’t have to invite me, been super busy here. Sam’s first thoughts were that of Raina’s birthday party which turned into a super faction brawl between the X-men and the order

Of course Sam didn’t bother telling Lee about the mansion being attacked, after all he did want her and Tarin to come and live there. After all it was the safest place for both of them if Tarin had another one of his episodes. Not only them but most of New York City.

Now grinning slightly Sam suggested, “Well hope I get a better first impression with this Tarin opposed to the old one, don’t think he liked me to much.” Sam said now smiling. He knew that having to be stopped was a hard thing for Tarin what’s worse he was stopped by someone Lee dated once or twice. Sam understood he was in a bad mood but still…

Lee's face went kind of blank as she thought while Sam was showing her that her cell phone number was in his phone. "You know," Lee said slowly after she had seen her name and number in the phone. "I don't think I actually have anyone's number saved. It's not like I use the thing much, so I normally just dial from memory or go from the call log."

Was it strange that she didn't have any numbers saved in her phone book? Maybe, but Lee also didn't see the problem with that was. She was sure she could dial the numbers to the shop and the apartment faster than she could find them in the phone book thing, and she knew Rachael's and Josh's numbers by heart. Pretty much anyone else could wait until she got home and could find their number.

Except, Lee thought a moment later, that she had needed to dig for Sam's number in the shop after she had seen someone burning half of Times Square on the news.

"Maybe you have a bit of a point, though," Lee continued, turning slightly to dig her cell phone out of her purse. It was just a small, cheap little thing, but it did the job; it made her accessible and contactable when she was out wandering around the city. "What's your number?"

As Sam said he hoped he'd get a better first impression with Tarin now, Lee nodded, her eyes slowly lowering to the cup in her hand. "Hopefully," she said softly. "Though that was always weird, too. I mean, I've seen Tarin get far more jealous because some random guy at a bar was looking at me than he ever got of you, and he had far greater reason to be jealous of you..."

Pausing as he put his phone down he then lifted an eyebrow at Lee and teased, “You lost my number? Didn’t you?” letting out a small laugh Sam then pointed at the table as ice formed on the table as numbers began to trace them self facing Lee. “I can put the area code in ice if you like” Sam teased as he had a smile on his face all the while.

The next thing didn’t surprise Sam to much Tarin did come off as the jealous type, “At least he isn’t the paranoid aggressive jealous type, other wise you’d just kick him in the ribs and put him in the hospital.” Sam said and joked as he made a motion and put his hand over his ribs where Lee kicked him on one of their ‘dates’.

Then a thought came to mind, “Did you ever tell Tarin about us?” then adding a grin, “And the fact that you kissed me?” knowing full well that Sam was the one who in fact stole a kiss and then got crushed in the ribs for it several seconds later still thought it was still somewhat funny despite how mean to was to trick her. “You know I am sorry about that right?” added Sam with a serious and apologetic look now on his face.

"No, I know ex-" Lee cut herself off. She had known exactly where Sam's number was, until she had dug it out to call him during Tarin's last merge. Things had been kind of crazy, though. What had she done with it after she had called him? "I know pretty much right where it it is..." she corrected herself, though her tone was nowhere near as sure as it had been to start with.

Lee was pretty sure that Sam was joking, though. At least that was what she got from his laugh, and the fact that he didn't seem to have any problem giving his number over again. "That still seems strange," Lee said softly, nodding her head at the icy numbers on the table as she copied them into her phone. "Flaunting it like that. Though I guess it's easier if you're not actually harming anyone when you do it," Lee finished, a slightly sad smile on her face as she finished her thought.

"But there we are. Number's all saved and safe."

Lee's eyes shot up to Sam's again when he asked if she had ever told Tarin about them. And about a kiss she had apparently given him. "What the hell are you talking about?" Lee asked. "You're the one who stole a kiss from me. You're lucky I was even willing to touch your hand that day with how I was feeling about my powers."

Then Sam was apologizing, and Lee blinked at him for a moment. "Now, are you sorry for the kiss, or sorry you pretended to pass out on me?" She asked, her eyebrows raised. "And yeah, I think I told Tarin something about us," Lee continued slowly, trying and failing to remember exactly what she would have said. "Not that it really matters. He did more than I'd ever think of doing while we were broken up."

Skeptical was one word that could explain the look on his face, as he looked at Lee who clearly wasn’t that great of lying. “Not a great liar, are you?” Sam asked as he raised an eyebrow slightly, trying not to laugh at Lee. Some people were good a lying, others weren’t in Sam’s experience it was all how you sure of your self you sounded and right now Lee did not sound sure of her self.

Smiling Sam tapped the table as the ice shattered and then formed into a small ice sculpture of an ice tiger, “Flaunting or not, this is how I express my self.” Sam said with a smile on his face joking somewhat. If he needed to he could live in secret but that wasn’t who he was, he liked using his powers and he liked what he could do with them. “And yes it is a lot easier when I don’t have to harm people with my powers.” Sam said as if it was a well-known fact.

“Oh you know you like the touch and the kiss,” Sam said teasingly “and I turned out to be just fine.” Said Sam with a grin on his face. He knew that this would either upset Lee greatly of it would just make her laugh it off. “I am sorry for the pretending to pass out on you, the kiss I refuse to apologize for, I was just teaching you something,” Sam nodded laughing, “Not every one gets weak when you touch them.”

Laughing now Sam said, ”Don’t know why Tarin was so jealous of me, if anything he should be thanking me.” Said Sam with a playful tone in his voice, “I got you to go back to him,” Sam lifted his hands and pulled an imaginary pull and arrow, “Just call me Cupid!” it was in fact Sam’s dumb move that forced Lee away from him and towards Tarin, Sam only claims he did it on purpose.

"I can lie when I need to," Lee said simply. How many times had she lied to Tarin after a merge, telling him that she was alright? How many times had she lied to her brother because it was easier than trying to explain the truth, if he'd have even believed it? She could lie, but hadn't thought she needed to lie here.

"I did know exactly where your number was," Lee explained. "But then I remembered I didn't put it back after that last time I called you. So it's probably still in my other purse, though I might have put it into the drawer at home..."

Not that it really mattered all that much any more since Lee now had Sam's number saved to her phone. Tucking the phone away again, Lee turned back to the table to see that the ice number that had been there was now gone, replaced with a little ice sculpture of a tiger.

"I wasn't necessarily talking about your powers hurting people," Lee whispered, her eyes on the little cat on the table. "I wish I could do something as simple and innocent as that with my powers...

"And for future reference," Lee continued, raising her eyes once more to Sam's, "stealing the kiss would have worked much better if you hadn't pretended to pass out first. Like if you had just leaned in to kiss me while I was touching your hand or something."

Then Lee blinked when Sam said he didn't know why Tarin had been so jealous. So jealous? Lee was still surprised Tarin hadn't gotten more jealous of Sam than he had. "Oh, you're Cupid now, are you?" Lee asked, an amused smile on her face. Somehow, Lee didn't think that's what Sam had had in mind that day at the zoo. Then she had an idea and laughed slightly. "Hey, do you think you could use your match making abilities to find someone for my brother? Maybe then he'd get off my back."

Nodding at Lee trying to convince her self she new where her number was Sam just smiled. She had it now and that's all that mattered. But he had to admit Lee trying to convince Lee was enjoyable to watch, it was certainly amusing.

A thought occurred to Sam he knew she drained energy but the conversation never did cover on when she found out and what she did with the energy, which began Sam asking questions, “Lee don’t remember if you ever told me but what exactly do you do with the energy you drained?” pausing for a second Sam didn’t know much about Lee’s life not much at all. “Also when exactly you find out about your abilities?” Not sure if he was crossing the line Sam then said, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, just kind of curious seeing as I don’t know much about you…”

Grinning to Lee’s next comments Sam said, “The only reason I pretended to faint was so I could see your reaction when I fainted so I could see what kind of person you were, the kiss was just a little something extra!” said Sam as he met Lee’s look, “Would you have been less….” Sam searched for the word ”Aggressive if I kissed you after our hands touched?”

Sam grinned and said, “Well the love only works if I kissed the girl in question, and seeing as I am seeing someone I don’t think it would work out so well for me…”

Sam was asking about her powers, about her siphoning. This felt so strange to Lee, to actually be talking about this, out in public, where people could hear. Yes, she knew that the Registration Act had been over turned months earlier, but she also knew how people had always reacted to hearing about her powers, long before the Act had ever been put into force.

"The same things you do with your energy, I'm guessing," Lee replied, giving Sam a level look. "You get energy from eating, you feel rested after you sleep," Lee continued explaining. "I don't. I don't like it, and it's not as if I have a choice, but I have to siphon just to be able to get through the day.

"If I have too much energy, though," Lee paused for a second as she thought. "That's when I'm up for days, and I can be faster and stronger than normal, which seems to be the only way to get rid of the energy faster. It sucks."

Apparently that wasn't the end of Sam's questioning. He also wanted to know about when she had found out about her powers. Though the last topic about her powers had been a little weird to actually be talking about, it had been ok. This one was more painful thanks to the memories.

"I was 15 when I actually realized what was going on, what I was," Lee said softly, her eyes dropping to the table once more. "I'm not sure when it actually started, though. We were going to doctors for over a year before that, trying to figure out what was going on. I could barely drag myself out of bed in the mornings, yet would be literally bouncing when I got home from school. The rest of my family would be passing out at 9, though. Once we realized, things changed..."

Would she have been less aggressive if Sam had kissed her without pretending to faint first? That was a good question, though at least if that had been the case, her reaction would have been more regarding the kiss than the kick to the ribs had been. "I wouldn't have been able to kick you as easily, at any rate," Lee told Sam with a slight smile on her face.

He was seeing someone too. Definitely not as serious as her and Tarin were, well, obviously since she and Tarin were now married, but he was seeing someone, and his Cupid skills only worked if he kissed the person in question.

"I guess it's impossible to say how I'd react if you were to have kissed me then," Lee said with a shrug. Then she looked at Sam intently, a bit of a playful smile tugging the corner of her mouth. "You're sure my brother's not your type? I mean, if all it'll take is one kiss from you and he'll find someone...That would be such a huge help for me..."

Sam listened intently as Lee talked about her powers and her past, the powers were easy to talk about but for Sam the difficulty is always the past. She was lucky though she had a functional family till fifteen, which was a lot more than Sam, could say about him self. Sam added a “Sorry to hear about that must have been tough on you and your family…”

“And you could still just as easily kicked me the only problem is I would have dropped like a sack of potatoes and odds are would have” switching to a higher pitch in voice Sam said, “and I would be talking like this today!” now laughing Sam said, “Besides how would I know what kind of person you would be today, or worse, we wouldn’t be here today and we would probably be either dating or hating on each other.”

Sam then said with a smile, “Way better if I am friends first before I start dating a girl.” Then thinking for a second Sam quickly added, “Though I would have to say Leila was an exception we sorta started off as friends with benefits…” a large grin could be seen on his face as he thought about Leila and the several times they spent time together.

“and no,” Sam said frowning slightly but still smiling, “even if it would help you out, not worth getting my but kicked.” Sam said as he thought of Leila’s reaction to seeing him kiss another guy, “Yeah it wouldn’t be pretty.” Then smiling, “why don’t you just tell him off if he is bugging you so much?”

Lee laughed when Sam pointed out the fact that she could have still kicked him if he had been standing when he stole that kiss. She couldn't help it with how he made his voice rise in pitch.

"That is probably true, isn't it?" Lee asked, joining in on Sam's joking and teasing. "I can only imagine how annoying you'd be in large doses, so yeah, I probably wouldn't be able to stand you if we had spent that much time together."

And yes, Lee almost stuck her tongue out at Sam as she finished that comment. Almost, but managed to keep that bit of dignity.

Then Sam went on to talk about this Leila girl, and how with her they had started off being 'friends with benefits' rather than simply friends. Lee had managed to withhold sticking out her tongue a moment earlier, but now she couldn't stop her eyes from rolling.

"I'm sure she'd love you talking about her like that," Lee said sarcastically. "You know, I kinda figured you for a guy who'd kiss and tell, but really Sam, that's a little far, don't you think?"

So Sam didn't want to try his amazing kissing Cupid type powers on her brother. Well, at least she wasn't any worse off than she had been with Robert than she had been before asking Sam.

"Why?" Lee asked, then shook her head slightly. "Cause he doesn't listen. He seems to think that now's the time to play the protective big brother, and he's convinced himself that Tarin beats me or something, so he's going to freak when he finds out that we're married."

Letting out a small laugh Sam said, “Who said you’d get annoyed with me? Odds are it would be the other way around.” Now laughing louder Sam said, “I am a free spirit and I ain’t let nothing way me down.” He heard this quote from somewhere but he wasn’t sure he thought it was perfect for the situation though. He then added, “Sides I think I have to much energy even for you and all of your siphon ness.”

“Look I am not one to kiss and tell but if I remember correctly I think it was an official title we agreed on at first and that's all I said, you're the one with her head in the gutter,” said Sam teasingly, ‘never did anything to big any ways just kissed’ thought Sam as he looked away from Lee and back to the paper that was still crumbled in his hands.

Looking back up at Lee Sam said, “Well at least you got a sibling, if I had a brother I would be thrilled if he was concerned who I was dating with, sides from what I hear brothers intuition is always right, so be careful when you see Tarin!” Sam nodded knowing that he sounded completely ridiculous. Now laughing Sam said, “Be more worried for Tarin then for you, you seem like you could deliver quite the beating.” Now making a motion to his ribs where Lee had kicked him so long ago.