The day was cold and blustery with a light snow falling but even that didn't seem to deter any of New York's finest citizens from going about their errands and daily routines. The streets remained crowded with almost bumper to bumper traffic while the sidewalks were filled with men and women bundled up in their heaviest winter coats as they hurried to their various destinations.

Jacen King would much rather have spent his day off in his apartment, sipping brandy, and watching Seinfeld reruns but that wasn't going to happen. Any typical working person knew that a day off was spent running errands and getting things done that you couldn't do while working and that was the situation he found himself in.

Ignoring the cold around him Jacen turned off of the sidewalk and jugged up the steps that led to the entrance of New York Fifth Federal bank. Wearing his brown hiking boots, thermal pants underneath dark blue jeans, and black leather jacket over top of a dark gray sweatshirt, he looked like someone that could have stepped right out of some type of winter advertising campaign. Ignoring the admiring looks of a couple teenage girls Jacen walked over and joined the line that led up to the teller.

"Check is supposed to be automatically deposited so why did they send me a real check this time?" He mentally complained as he ran his left hand through his dark brown hair, dislodging a few persistent snowflakes, "This kind of computer error had better not become a habit. I don't have time to always be running down to the bank."

"Sorry about the noise." A young mother right behind him apologized as her little boy began to cry, "I think he's coming down with a cold or something... he just doesn't feel good."

Somewhat surprised to even be spoken to Jacen turned slightly, taking in the young woman and her child with a quick sweep of his gaze before offering her a quick smile. "Don't worry about it... I doubt he's the only one that doesn't like the cold weather."

Nodding gratefully she returned to gently shushing her little boy as she bounced him up and down on her hip. Turning away Jacen smiled slightly and returned his attention back to the line. There were several people in front of him but none of them seemed to stand out.

"I'm off duty anyway... just get in, get out, and get back to the errands." He thought to himself as he focused his gaze up toward one of the ceiling lights. Boredom was already beginning to set in and he hated being bored... he seriously hated it.

Sam frowned slightly as he approached the bank. He hated the bank everything about it, the lines the tellers the smell. To him it was almost as bad as the post office or the DMV. Out of all the places in the world he had to be here.

Sam had several accounts under his name and a majority of them were overseas accounts but the one here was different it was from the time he just started out at the mansion still unsure if the place was the right fit. One that he hasn’t withdrawn from in a long time, one that he planed on closing, which would mean a transfer of money, a lot of it.

The name for the account was Sam Jackson. Sure it was a risk using his original first name but that was the main reason he used it. It would have been a move that the real Jackson and all his goonies wouldn’t expect.

Removing the frown Sam lifted his head and looked at the falling snowflakes and smiled, he loved the snow. Smoothing about the snow seemed calming and for right now that’s what Sam really needed something to calm him before he enters the bank.

Sighing Sam looked down as he saw several bulky men walk into the bank wearing dark black trench coats. Sam shrugged and entered the bank thinking nothing of it as he quickened his pace to the line.

Sam sighed and counted to ten trying not to get upset at the long line. “Just a line, look it’s moving one down thirty something to go.” Mumbled Sam to himself as he looked around the bank to do what he called people watching. It had become something of a habit of his to look around at any given situation and try to see what people would do next. Sort of like watching the television.

More people were coming in and joining the line behind himself and the young mother but Jacen really didn't bother to look at them. All that mattered to him was getting through this line and getting back about his business.

"This is definitely a crappy way to spend my day off." He thought to himself as he crossed his arms over his chest and tried to fight off the boredom that pushed against the back of his mind, "I need a real vacation."

"Nobody move!" A voice screamed out, startling his internal speculation. As he turned his head toward the voice the words were punctuated by the discharge of an automatic weapon being discharged up into the ceiling.

As the echo of the first gunshot filled the room Jacen's mind suddenly turned to full work mode. He was in the middle of a bank robbery... around him people were screaming and diving for cover while right next to him the young woman with her child stood frozen in fear.

"We're just here for the money! Stay out of our way and nobody gets hurt!" A second gunman yelled as he jogged over toward the teller counter.

Moving quickly Jacen grabbed the young woman beside him and pulled her down behind the nearest counter he could find. The fact that it was the counter in the center of the room where people filled out their deposit and withdrawal slips really didn't matter. He just had to make sure that the civilians were safe.

The screams had already died down, replaced by whimpers of fear that came from all around the bank. Peaking around the counter Jacen's mind took a quick head count, noticing four men in trench coats and ski masks. Two were armed with what looked to be AK-47s, one had an UZI, and one had a semi-automatic pistol of some type.

"Ruger maybe?"

The weight of Jacen's Glock .45 pressed heavily against his back as though begging him to reach back and pull it from the holster but he knew that now wasn't the time. Four against one was never good odds especially when there were this many hostages around.

"Patient... gotta stay patient."

The line behind Sam started to fill out as more and more people entered the bank. Sam shifted his weight and put his hand on his head and yawned he really hated this crap, lines to many people in one building it screamed boredom.

Sam’s eyes shifted to the entrance doors when he noticed one of the four men he saw earlier walk to the entrance doors and stood in front of it only after locking it. Normally this wouldn’t set off a red flag but the guy pulled an Uzi and quickly threw on a ski mask hoping no one would see before he heard a fire from another gun.

"Nobody move!"

Frowning Sam looked around and picked out the location of the other three robbers. Sure Sam could go ice mode right now but the problem was none of them were in his range and two of the gunman already had there weapons pointed at a group of hostages.
‘Wait’ Sam thought as he slowly got down to the ground crouching to one knee.

"We're just here for the money! Stay out of our way and nobody gets hurt!"

‘Shit’ thought Sam as he looked around as the people dropped to the ground. All accept a mother and a little girl. Sam was only feet from them and knew he could help them out. One step forward Sam noticed another man pull her down to the ground. A smile came over his face and he gave a silent ‘thanks’ to the man.

A small look of relief came over Sam as one of the gunmen ran to the teller counter that was just in Sam’s range. The best part he was running. Putting his left index finger to the ground Sam sent a small beam of ice to the floor and it quickly shot it’s way right in front of the counter. A small grin came over his face as the man slipped and landed on his backside. Hoping it was a hard enough fall Sam nodded in approval.

Letting out a small laugh Sam pressed his finger to the small line of ice and it quickly dissolved. Problem was Sam was in the clearing of the room right on the floor so if anyone were looking his way they would have seen the ice form.

He had to move anywhere would be good he just needed to be out of the open if he was going to be any kind of help in preventing casualties. Sam got down on all fours and started crawling on the ground. Right hand, left leg, left hand, right leg one then another Sam was almost upon the center of the bank where the lady and her son and the guy who saved them was.

“Hey you!”

Sam knew he was talking about him Sam didn’t move he just stayed still he had a chance to do something but he didn’t, he couldn’t risk the others safety for his. Without moving Sam iced his skin under the clothing making it so if he was going to be shot there was a chance that the bullets wouldn’t do much damage. But for some reason no matter how much he tried his left arm would freeze over. Something was interfering with his powers.

A gun shot was heard as Sam’s head looked around he saw who the robbers were talking to, he laid sprawled out on the ground holding his arm as it bleed out on the floor. The look on his face gave Sam the chills, they just shot the security guard. “Shit” muttered Sam.

Jacen's eyes were cold and all business. Any thoughts of simply enjoying a day off had disappeared and quickly been replaced by the analytical and well trained thoughts of a former Ranger and current S.W.A.T. team member. His hands were itching to grab his pistol and start taking down the enemy but he knew this still wasn't the time.

Things seemed to be going smoothly for the robber until one went running over to the teller and then slipped, falling to the floor with a loud thud. With all the nervous tensions in the room Jacen doubted that any of the robbers had noticed the one thing that was apparent to him at that very instant... there was a mutant in the room.

"Ice? He can control ice?" Jacen thought, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he watched the younger man form and then dissolved the ice on the floor before he began to crawl toward Jacen and the young pregnant woman. "Oh this is gonna be great. We always need a loose cannon in a situation like this."

"Hey you!" A voice rang out and immediately Jacen's head snapped over, focusing on the man who had spoken. Mr. Ruger was pointing his weapon at the security guard who apparently had done something to attract his attention. Noting his hand position it was a safe bet that the guard had either already activated the silent alarm or he was just about to.

The gunman's eyes were hard and his arm seemed to stiffen slightly as he jabbed it toward the security guard.

"NO!" Jacen screamed in his mind as the shot rang out sending the security guard to the floor. Up until now Jacen had thought it might be possible for the robbers to take the money and then leave but now that was not going to be an option. The moment they shot someone their threat level increased dramatically.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" One of the AK-47 wielders yelled, obviously nervous and frustrated that things weren't moving faster.

"He was reaching for the alarm. Idiot." The other man said coldly and rather dispassionately as he turned away from where the guard was now lying in a pool of his own blood. "Get the money and let's get out of here!"

Mr. Uzi had gotten back up to his feet from where he had fallen by the tellers. He looked to still be a little shaky but he was quickly recovering as he held out a sack and watched as the teller threw block after block of greenbacks into it.

Turning his attention back to the young woman Jacen offered her as kind a smile as he could manage. "Stay put ma'am... everything is going to be fine." As soon as she nodded, the fear still apparent in her eyes Jacen began to move, slowly creeping around the counter so that he could get a better angle toward the three that were keeping their distance.

"I really hope the mutant doesn't do anything stupid... this is the kind of thing you leave to professionals." He thought somewhat darkly to himself as he made it around to the corner he had been working to get to. Crouching there Jacen returned to watching, left hand bracing on the floor while his right waited for the moment it would be able to snatch out his weapon.

One down from the looks of it he wasn’t dead just badly wounded if he didn’t get help soon odds are he would bleed out and die. Sam had to do something fast. He could take them out but there was still the fact that his powers couldn’t work in that large of a range. He could take one maybe two out but after that there wouldn’t be that many mistakes he could make before another hostage is disposed of.

"What the hell did you do that for?!"

The moment Sam waited for was approaching he could feel it. They were on edge now he could tell from their voices. The only problem with anything in life animals humans mutants, when one is on edge they not only make mistakes but they are far more violent and irrational than when they are calm.

"He was reaching for the alarm. Idiot." "Get the money and let's get out of here!"

Sam frowned at the man as he spoke, ‘this guy defiantly sounds like he is in charge…’ Sam thought silently as he tried to figure out what to do, taking out the head rarely works in these types of situations.

Looking to his backside he noticed there were a few people behind him huddled up in a large circle. ‘Here goes nothing thought Sam as he lowered his internal body temperature once more and then started to lower the airs temperature around himself. Smiling after noticing his left hand was freezing over finally, ‘guess it’s fine now’ thought Sam.

Out of the corner of his eye Sam noticed the man who took the mother and child to the center of the bank move. He was no longer with them he was off to the side and from what Sam saw he was waiting for something to happen. Sam’s first thought was a ‘planted victim’ just in case things started going sour they could still have the element of surprise. But if he was with them he would have said something when Sam made the gunman slip and why would he save the lady and her kid?

Shaking his head Sam looked over to the teller station where the man who slipped before was now getting money from the tellers. Sam nodded slightly in the direction of the bank tellers and a small ball of ice started forming. Slow at first but then it quickly started to form. ‘Scary distraction thought Sam as he slowly got up and moved to the majority of hostages still as low as possible.

”What the Hell is that?”

A large golem of a dark blue ice was now looking at the man with the bag full of money. Sam did his best to make it ugly and scary as possible after all he didn’t want to fight with it only use it as a distraction. Large wings spread from it’s back as it raised its large claw like hands to take a swing at the man.

Sam had positioned the golem to form to the right of the gunman where a wall was and no hostages so even if they decided to shoot at the ice beast no harm would come from the hostages.

Jacen's eyes were cold and completely focused on the leader. He was aware of all of the robbers and their positions in the bank but he was keeping a close eye on the leader. He was the man that seemed to have no regret in shooting and possibly killing another person. The other three seemed confused, frustrated, and maybe even a little scared about how things had escalated. Jacen was willing to be that unless forced, those three were not out to kill anyone.

The room seemed to be getting colder and Jacen had to wonder whether S.W.A.T. had already arrived outside and cut the A/C & heat. It was standard procedure when you were getting ready to negotiate with someone that was holding hostages. The more uncomfortable you could make them the more likely they would do something stupid that could be exploited.

"What the Hell is that?" A voice from over near the tellers rang out with a rather obvious note of fear punctuating the voice.

Swiveling his head Jacen's eyes widened as he took in the huge ice monster that had formed. "What is that kid thinking?!" He thought to himself, a frustrated look on his face as the two men with AK-47s opened fire filling the room with gunfire as screams from the various customers punctuated the noise.

Reaching back under his jacket Jacen's hand closed over his Glock but then he froze as his mind finished processing the situation. The ice monster was positioned so that as the men fired any bullets that missed would go past into a wall and nowhere near the hostages.

Relaxing his hand and leaving the weapon in its holster, Jacen brought his right hand back to his side as a ghost of a smile played over his features. Maybe the mutant wasn't as dumb as Jacen had originally thought. By getting the men to waste their ammo in a safe direction it made this a much safer situation for the innocents that were sprawled all over the floor.

"Stop shooting you idiots!" The leader yelled over the noise, "Can't you see it's not doing anything?! There's a mutant in here! Kill it and its little toy will disappear!"

"Ah, hell..."

"Stop shooting you idiots!" "Can't you see it's not doing anything?! There's a mutant in here! Kill it and its little toy will disappear!"

Blinking then frowning Sam’s plan was starting to backfire, this time they are looking to take out the hostages. Sam looked over his shoulder still crouched then frowned. The majority of hostages were behind him but that still wasn’t enough if Sam wanted to save every one he had to run throughout the bank and create a wall of ice around all of them. That was the safest way he thought he could do something.

Looking to the golem that had not been doing anything except for getting shot at Sam frowned slightly controlling it, ‘Take him and pin him on the wall’. The monstrous Golem obliged the command from its master and grabbed the robber closet to him and threw him to the wall the golems hand around the neck of the robber. The robbers gun fell to the ground as he started to scream for help.

“Some one help me!” HELP!!!!! HEl!!!!”

The robber didn’t have a chance to finish crying for help for the golem turned to a soft ice and formed around him pinning him to the wall. The man’s hands and legs were bound and his mouth was covered completely.

Taking this as the ‘Time to move’ signal Sam reveled himself as the mutant and turned his back to the robbers and raised his hands in front of the hostages. A wall of ice started to form between them and Sam, as he spoke, “Ladies and Gentlemen, if you could just sit tight for a second I will be saving your lives today. So just sit tight and don’t panic, it makes my job a lot easier.” Sam nodded and finished up the thick wall of ice and turned around to see that there were only three robbers left.

‘Three robbers’ Sam thought to himself as he looked back around to see a few hostages here and there. ‘Would be so much easier if they were in one spot, I get the hostages safe the robbers aren’t a threat.

In just a matter of seconds the mutant had disabled one of the criminals and created an ice wall between the other robbers and almost all of the civilians. The counter that Jacen, the young mother, and her child were hiding behind was still out in the open but with her safely tucked behind it things were beginning to look up.

Poking his head around the desk Jacen smirked slightly as he watched the three remaining robbers all gaping at the ice covered mutant. The Uzi wielding man was pinned up against the wall but the two AK-47s and the Ruger were all still in play.

"Guess it's time for law enforcement to show up." Jacen thought to himself as he reached behind his back and slipped the Glock .45 out of its holster, "3... 2... 1..."

"NYPD!" Jacen called out loudly as he stepped out from behind the counter, gun leveled at the three criminals and jacket pushed back to reveal the badge he had clipped to his belt, "Put down the weapons! No one else has to die!"

Seeing a cop seemed to break through the stupor that the three criminals had been developing and without the slightest pause Mr. Ruger and one of the AK-47s swiveled toward him.

"Take them both out!" Ruger screamed in rage as he pulled the trigger, sending a wild shot over Jacen's right shoulder.

"Shit!" Jacen swore as he adjusted his aim slightly, focusing on one of the AK-47 wielders. Pulling the trigger smoothly he fired off three quick shots before dropping behind the counter again. As he went for cover he noted with grim satisfaction that his target was stumbling back, his rifle pointing up to the ceiling as it discharged.

"Two down... two to go."

Still in the open a sigh of relief sounded as Sam realized he wasn’t the only one they’re to stop the robbers there was another. Apparently with the NYPD, which made Sam feel slightly at ease. Sam had a few run ins with the police and all of them were good encounters from what he could tell most of them had seemed nice enough and were somewhat friendly to mutants despite what happened a little over a year ago.

"Take them both out!"

This was no longer a simple bank robbery it was quickly escalating into a shoot out between Sam the officer and the three remaining gunman. Sam just hoped there wouldn’t be to many casualties on either side.

Sam frowned slightly as one of the gunmen went down with out a problem. ‘Dead thought’ Sam as he started to ice his body over with it’s usually armor of thick ice making it difficult for bullets to pierce.

Sam started to run to the two remaining gunman as they first aimed for the cop and now him. ‘Take your shots officer’ thought Sam as he ran towards them only slowing when a bullet from the handgun chipped a large chunk of ice from Sam’s armor.

As soon as it disappeared it quickly reformed the only problem was the bullets were coming in faster than Sam could reform the armor. Something gave as a piece of metal imbedded itself in Sam’s left arm. “Shit” Sam called out as he tried to continue his charge as blood quickly showed itself through the blue crystal armor.

“We, got him he is slowing, Aim for the mutants head!” cried out the leader as he sounded almost too happy about killing a mutant.

The rain of gunfire had stopped whistling over his head but Jacen could still here the AK-47's loud retort as it sent round after round toward its target. As he moved to get back into a firing position he had the sinking suspicious that the mutant was attracting all of the attention. As he popped back up over the counter a shout from Ruger confirmed it.

“We, got him he is slowing, Aim for the mutants head!”

Taking quick aim Jacen focused on what would be his best shot. Anyone that had seen movies might have been expecting him to shot the robber's weapons or hands in order to disable them but Hollywood rarely emulated real life. Anyone that had previously fired in a high tense situation would know that the chances of actually hitting someone weapon or hand was very low but the chance of hitting the torso was much better.

Pulling the trigger two times Jacen sent the .45 slugs sailing into the chest of the robber that was still holding his AK-47. The look of surprise on the man's face would have almost been comical if it hadn't been happening at the same time as his shirt was blossoming red from blood.

Swiveling his aim quickly Jacen's gaze had the hardness of an accomplished shoulder as he centered his weapon on Ruger's chest. For a moment the criminal seemed frozen, his head swiveled to look at the two men who were now sprawled on the floor with their assault rifles lying near their still bodies.

"Drop the weapon!" Jacen called out, his mind immediately sorting through standard operating procedures as he waited to see exactly what the leader would do. For a brief moment he wished he was back in the war... then there would be no question about shooting this last perp. It would be a couple more bullets and then go on about the patrol. Giving the criminals every chance in the world was probably one of the most idiot thing in the rule books but it was still a rule and Jacen did his best to go by the book.

"Drop it now!"

Another sigh of relief came from Sam as he looked from the officer to the other gunman who dropped to the floor. ‘One left’ thought Sam as he stood still now icing his body over once more and repairing his damaged armor.

“Drop it now!”

Sam saw the fear frozen on the guys face. It was like his he gave up the second his last partner was stopped. He stood frozen not sure what to do as if he was waiting orders from an outside force. Unfortunately for him they wouldn’t come in time.

A smile was visible on Sam’s face now, “It’s over” Sam said calmly as he shot a beam of blue from his hands towards the leader who backed up slightly only to get his hand along with the gun forced to a wall and frozen over. Nodding in approval of the situation Sam walked over to the guard was shot earlier.

A frown covered Sam’s face as he looked at the man, his arm was clipped and it was bleeding out. Sam’s ice armor shattered and sprayed out in the bank and quickly dissolved as he bent over the guard was clipped earlier, “Good Job!” Sam said.

Ice formed over Sam’s hand then pressed it to the gun wound freezing the patch of skin over, forcing the blood to stop flowing from the wound, “it’s cold but when the ambulance gets here you’ll be thanking me, just rest up till they get here.”

Blood started to drip from his own arm as Sam frowned slightly and ice the location over as well. “Just have the doc take a look at it when I get back” Sam muttered to himself biting his lower lip slightly trying to fight back the pain.

The situation was over but Jacen knew better than to relax his guard. Keeping a tight grip on his weapon, he moved over to the mother and her young child and crouched down beside them.

"Are you OK ma'am?" He asked quietly, his eyes searching her features for some sign of reassurance.

"I... I think so..." The woman murmured, obviously in a daze, "Why? Why would they do this?"

Sighing Jacen slowly rose back into a standing position as he reached back and slipped his Glock back into its holster. "I'll leave that for better men than me to figure out." The S.W.A.T. officer murmured as he turned and walked over to the nearest desk in the room. It was up against the wall that was farthest away from the other civilians as well as the perpetrators, but it would allow him access to the phone he needed.

Picking up the handle Jacen waited silently for a connection to be made. He just knew hat NYPD was most likely already outside, just waiting for someone to pick up the phone.

"This is Officer Julliard. I'm a negotiator. If we all stay calm..." A man's voice came on almost instantly but Jacen cut him off before he could continue.

"This is Officer Jacen King, badge number 3... 2... 6... 5.. the situation is under control. We have three gunshot injuries. One is a security guard and the other two are a couple of the would be robbers. We need paramedics as well as officers to escort out the uninjured perps."

"Your serious... it's all clear?" The negotiator's voice held a note of disbelief and Jacen had to smile grimly at the sound.

"I had some help... tell the boys there's a mutant in here that's on our side. No weapons necessary."

"We're on our way in."

After hanging up the phone Jacen turned around, his gaze carefully monitoring Sam as the other man froze over the security guard's wounds. "Police are on their way in... if you want to give a statement then stick around. If not, then I suggest you slip out the back door."

"Police are on their way in... if you want to give a statement then stick around. If not, then I suggest you slip out the back door."

Rising from the security guard Sam nodded and looked to the man who was sure an officer now. He seemed to be older than Sam at least by a few years; he also seemed to be slightly taller than Sam. His build also said a little more about him as well, ‘Marines?’ Sam thought about asking but then decided against it.

Noticing the offer and the fact that the officer’s glock was now back in the holster Sam nodded slightly and said, “Yeah best be on my way less reporters get involved.” Sam didn’t entirely mind the reporters they were just doing their jobs.

Their jobs on the other hand is what he hated, reporters all had a tendency to get to persona; with the questions, ‘where you from, where do you live, why did you help them, what’s your beliefs on human mutant relations’ stuff that Sam could answer easily but just didn’t.

Extending his hand Sam walked closer to the officer and said, “Thanks for the help, wouldn’t have done as good without you.” Sam kept his hand extended hoping the officer wasn’t one of those officers that hated Mutants with a passion and would shake his hand. It was Sam’s way of saying thank you.

At least the guy understood that some of the NYPD might not really approve of mutants but he was still willing to help out when necessary. As he approached Jacen with hand outstretched the S.W.A.T. team member pushed away from the desk he had been leaning against and in just a few quick strides was over with his hand gripping the other man's in a firm shake.

"I'm Jacen King. Nice work yourself." Jacen replied with a slight smile. Most of his mind was still in work mode so he wasn't being overly friendly, but he wasn't a mutant hater either and the fact that this guy had saved lives deffinately made him OK in Jacen's book.

"That ice wall saved lives."