It had been a great sparring session with Basile. The French man was old but he could still fight like the professional that he was. Cosmina always enjoyed her fights with Basile. He openly admitted that he couldn’t teach her anything more about savate, her chosen martial art. However, since the both of them were well versed and lacking opponents in their style that could challenge them they met regular in order to keep their skills sharp. It was unfortunate that he would likely die soon. Cosmina imagined the gruff old man to be what her grandfather would have been like if she’d known him. Of course Basile’s death didn’t matter. He’d be back eventually. Then she could spar with him while he was young and vital.

Cosmina was back in her street clothes, jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt, and back on the streets now. She was headed to her car. Her Jaguar XKR convertible was parked not too far from here. In fact she could see it just at the end of the street. That was why she was frowning instead of smiling. Some idiot was trying to steal her car. In broad daylight no less! Cosmina looked up. She’d lost track of time. The sun was still up but it was fast setting. That made it a little more excusable but not by much. He was in plain view for pity’s sake. Her smile found its way back to her face but now it had a dangerous look to it. If he insisted on being a fool then he would be treated like one.

One quick activation of her mutation later and Cosmina was walking placidly up to her vehicle where a man with horribly shaggy black hair looked like he was trying to pick the lock. Cosmina slid onto the hood of the car, let her mutation slip back into dormancy, crossed her legs, and cleared her throat.

“Excuse me. Is this your car?”

Her tone was sweet and her smile matched it. The would be car thief finally looked up. What sort of thief paid so little attention to their surroundings?

“Let me answer for you. No, it isn’t.”

”Odd…” Sam thought allowed as he focused his good eye on the scene below and across the street in a parking lot. For a while he had been trying to help the police find out who was behind all of the sudden and rapid growth of car jacking. It had been going on for a few weeks now and seeing has the carjackers suddenly got violent he opted to help out and get to the bottom of this. The best way to shut down the carjackers was to follow them back to wherever they flipped and then chopped the cars. Cut the snake off at the head it dies off right?

So here he was sitting on the top of a smaller apartment complex staring down on a man who he could only assume was a carjacker. He defiantly fit one of the descriptions that was given and the fact that he had been staring about the car nonchalantly for the past twenty minutes Sam figured he was up to no good. Lucky him if he didn’t lose track on where he was he would have missed this little scene completely.

The reason why this was so odd to Sam was the fact that he was just looking about the car as if he wasn’t exactly sure what to do. He could have taken it pretty quickly from all the reports he read and all the eyewitnesses he heard from. The question was why didn’t he just take the car? Smash the window? Pick the lock? Something to reveal he was who Sam thought he was. Maybe he wasn’t the right guy? Just had a familiar face or something of the like?

No… he was the guy, the fact that he made a pass for the door proved it. Another thing he thought was odd, broad daylight? Maybe he couldn’t resist? Shrugging his shoulders Sam pushed him self up and stood up swinging his legs up on the ledge forcing him self-upright. Before he was about to make his move he lowered his level slightly and watched the scene as a woman casually walked up to the car and sat on the hood. Surprise clearly took the car thief as he jumped back and responded back to the woman who had said something moments before.

Sam blinked not sue what they were saying, he was to far to hear and reading lips was never something he was able to do well, if he attempted to the conversation would have been something ridiculous and impractical so Sam decided to make his move. Falling forward and icing his feet Sam formed a slide downward toward the street. Slowly he approached his feet still iced up and the slide that trailed from his lurking spot melted away dripping water behind him.

Before he got close enough however to the pair and the car the thief pulled a gun in a panic and aimed it at the woman. The gun was low and in between him and the car so passer bys wouldn’t notice unless they were specifically looking for a gun. Sam however spotted it as he pulled it out so he slowly approached the scene doing his best to remain silent so he could get the drop on the thief. From the direction he was coming the thief’s back was to Sam. The woman on the hood of the car however was in plain view.

Cosmina saw the new player in this little comedy long before he made his entrance. He was watching them from atop a building that was across from the lot where she'd parked. A vigilante perhaps? Or maybe the car thief's accomplice? Perhaps if she was truly lucky he was a plain clothes cop. He certainly seemed to be taking his time deciding whether or not he was going to intervene. After all, all sorts of things could happened to her in the time it would take him to get down to street level from that roof top and cross the street. Assuming he was human of course.

Her face was a perfect smiling mask, showing none of these thoughts to the man on the ground before her. So when their little stalker descended from the rooftop via sliding down an icy pathway she didn't visibly react. So he was a mutant with ice powers? Well he got points for not simply walking in but ice slides had been done before so Cosmina wasn't all that impressed. The eye patch could denote several things but combined with the way he held himself she'd have to guess that he was a man of action or something of sort.

The thief couldn't see him and thus the ice user was taking advantage of his blind spot and his preoccupation with Cosmina to sneak up on him. So he was one of those save the day hero types. That was fine. Cosmina would let him save the day and account her the grateful victim. As the man closed in on the theif the thief drew a gun and pointed it at her. Cosmina fought the urge to grin at him. Did he think he could scare her with a gun? If she cared to she could reach either of two guns that were nearby before he could hit her. She wouldn't though. It was time to act. Cosmina let her smile waver as though she were actually frightened.

Sam was close now, close enough that someone with a gun pointed should have heard him and reacted Sam was quite but he wasn’t that quite his shoes weren’t exactly the quite type. ‘Oh well,’ thought Sam as he raised his hand behind the man as he walked closer and closer the barrel of the gun filling with ice to the point that a bullet couldn’t be fired. Once the barrel filled the ice moved outward as if the ice itself was alive and consuming the gun then attempting to consume the man’s hand. Taking a few steps forward again it seemed al of a sudden the thief was aware of Sam.

The gun man dropped the gun and looked surprised and jumped back towards Sam, something that Sam hadn’t fully expected but again wasn’t going to put up much of a fuss, Sam lowered his level pulled his fist back and then gave the man a rising upper cut to the jaw as soon as he turned around. The man stumbled and fell due to the surprise more to the blow.

Once he was on the ground trying to regain his composure Sam lifted his hand again and a jet of blue exited his hand as ice enveloped the mans feet and then his hand to the ground, ”Pow right in the kisser!” Sam said attempting to quote a television show he watched recently with one of his students who wasn’t feeling so well. Regardless if he got the line right or not he now had his connection to the chop shop or so he hoped.

”Gun pulled and not so much as a flinch?” He lifted his eye up and down the woman who was sitting on the hood of her car like a she was ready to be a pin up model and he thought about the calendars and posters in the garage at the mansion. ”Impressive!” Sam said as he smirked to the woman and blinked his right eye and tilting his head making it obvious he was winking at her.

Sam looked back to the thief who was trying to break free and now yelling for help. ”I wouldn’t be making to much of a fuss, Miranda rights and all that…” Sam said as he lifted his wallet from his back pocket and flashed a badge.

Oh he even used one liners! Alright so it was only a quote from an old TV show but still. Cosmina always the best fun working with mercenaries that dropped sarcastic comments and snarky one liners regularly. They made her grin a lot. Plus jobs were so much more fun when your partner knew how to be light-hearted about the whole thing. A job was a job, there was no need to be a sour puss. Apparently her brief show of fear hadn't done much to make her seem the frightened victim. She'd put on a better show when she'd been faced down with police along side Effigy. Cosmina wanted to pout because her toy had run away and she hadn't seen him since. She didn't though.

Instead she chuckled lightly as he voiced some small awe at her composure and winked at her. If she had been the type to get startled every time a gun was pulled on her she would have had to have found a different line of work. Really, what other sort of work could she possibly be suited for with a mutation like hers?

"It's not the first time I've seen a gun and it probably won't be the last."

Her smiled brightened for a moment and she stayed exactly where she was as he turned to deal with the would be thief. Cosmina saw him flash a badge. He was either MRC or those mutants they'd been working with lately, the X-Men, then. It paid to keep abreast of developments in the police forces when your primary income was generally illegal in nature. Mutants in the force were usually in the MRC division. So the question became was he a policeman or merely affiliated with them?

"You're in the police then?"

It was a polite inquiry that she coupled with a sweet tone and a small lean forward as though she were interested in the answer. The fact that her t-shirt happened to have a v-neck that would make for a good view for him at that angle had very little do with it all.

The thief spotted the badge and then gave a look of panic when he realized he was up the creak with no paddle. ”So sit tight for a moment or two till backup arrives and hauls you off for questioning… or if you’d rather…” Sam’s thought trailed off as he noticed the look on his face then lowered his eyebrow, ”I could cut a deal with you…” Sam said a smile working into his expression. Placing the badge back into his back pocket he looked back to the woman now that the man for the moment was relatively quite contemplating his situation and the best course of action.

He turned his gaze to the woman who was leaning over in a v-neck wondering what exactly his relation to the police were, ”Not exactly…” Sam said as he looked from the woman who was either trying to distract him with her cleavage or… well there was no other option. Eye contact was something Sam was good at so instead of falling for her attempt he kept his eye locked on hers. Though his eye was still able to pick up on her distraction it was just not his initial focus.

”Working with the Police as of now, helping them till they get on their feet when it comes to dealing with problems they aren’t exactly equipped to handle, mutants for example.” Sam realized he was making it sound like he was a hired gun; he wasn’t a mercenary and didn’t want to come off as one. ”Looking into a certain development in the city crime related, kind of personal…” He shrugged slightly and turned to address the thief, ”Now have you thought much about my offer?”

Sam stared the man down till he responded ”I want my lawyer!” frowning slightly Sam sighed, ”Aww your no fun! Too bad, could have walked away a stern warning…” reaching into his pocket Sam called in for back-up. Dispatch let him know a squad car was en-route and Sam focused back to the woman this time his eye catching a full glimpse of the v-neck before his eye locked on her face, ”Sorry about not restraining him sooner, I was hoping he would show me were some people were…” he trailed off at that and then fixed his eye back on the thief.

Mercy? For the man that tried to steal her precious car? That just wouldn't do. If the law man wouldn't see to his punishment then Cosmina would. Her beautiful Jaguar was hers alone and worth good money. More importantly the man was either ignoring her or possessed of fairly decent self control. It didn't matter though. She'd meant it merely as a test. It gave her information on this man. As did his answer. He wasn't exactly with the police so that meant he was with the X-Men. She would need to see him make more arrests but if they followed the pattern set by this one then he had a propensity toward offering mercy to those wrongdoers he caught.

Cosmina chuckled at his seeming disappoint in the thief's decision. She was quite fine with it. That meant that he'd be going to jail for trying to steal her baby. When one-eye turned back to her this time he looked. That earned him a grin, if only for a moment. She gave him a shrug and hopped off of the vehicle.

"Oh it's ok. I'm alright." Cosmina paused, "So who do I owe for my valiant rescue?"

A name would save her having to refer to him by nicknames. If he asked after her name she would given her given name. No need to get her professional/mutant name mixed up in this. For all he knew she was a normal woman who was brave enough to face down a gun. His last remark made it sound like there were more of these thieves. Well the next one that tried would learn not to mess with her car. Honestly he was very lucky that the ice mutant had been here. It wouldn't have been a pretty or painless death otherwise. He was getting off exceedingly easy as far as she was concerned.

She was all right and from the sound of it she wasn’t to upset about Sam not stopping the thief sooner she also wanted his name. Something Sam was more than happy to give to such a beautiful woman but he did have to keep things somewhat professional. Sam smiled and walked towards the woman a few steps and offered his hand towards her a friendly smile on his face, ”Johnson, Sam Johnson.” he waited for a moment then asked her, ”And who do I have the pleaser of meeting?”

Before he could ask her another question his attention turned to the would be car thief who tried fighting the ice with a struggle as the sirens and lights of the nearest cruiser. It was time for the pick up which meant that soon Sam would hopefully have some answers he was looking for ideally the location of a chop shop. ”Hold on a second…” Sam said lifting his finger towards the woman.

Looking back to the car thief Sam walked over and shattered the ice with no more than a thought and lifted the thief off the ground and then handed him to the nearest officer who had cuffs ready along with their cruiser door open. ”He refused to talk and wants his lawyer so just take him to the station and let me know what you guys find out, he knows something other wise he wouldn’t have asked for his lawyer…” that much was obvious Sam figured any moron could have seen that.

“And her?” the female officer asked as she pointed to the woman beside the car who the thief tried stealing, ”I can take it from here…” Sam said dismissing the idea of her getting questioned by the other officer to further inconvenience the woman, who Sam almost let her car get stolen. ”She arrived after I did so questioning her would less than useful.” the policewoman gave Sam a look like she knew where he was going with this but didn’t say anything but rather shut the back door of the cruiser as her partner pushed the thief in. “Well call you to let you know what we find out Sam.”[/color] she gave Sam a wave and her and her partner went to the nearest station where the car thief would get his lawyer and hopefully they’d get some answers.

”Now…” he turned to the woman and smiled, ”You did happen to witness an attempted car-jacking that makes you a witness,” he paused and grinned slightly, ”Care to let me question you over a drink?” Sam asked curiously one of his eyebrows raised. So he wasn’t the most professional officer all the time, just some of the time.

He smiled and offered a friendly handshake. His name was Sam Johnson. Cosmina took his offered hand in a friendly shake, her own smile stretching just a slight bit wider to indicate pleasure at making his acquaintance.

"Cosmina Stanton. You can call me Cosmina."

Giving a false last name was in her best interest. Cosmina Walker was missing and presumed dead for eleven years now. The general speculation, as Cosmina kept close tabs on developments regarding her family and estate, was that Cosmina was abducted by whoever had killed her mother. Some people thought she was still alive. On the whole most thought she was dead and her body simply hadn't been found yet. Eventually Cosmina planned to go and take control of the estate. The lawyer had been keeping it tied up in loopholes and legal proceedings for years on the off chance that she was still alive. Rather ridiculous of him but it would provide her with a good opportunity later.

Sam dealt with the police officers when they arrived. This was something for which Cosmina was grateful. There wasn't much chance of it but being recognized from the store robbery that she'd completed with her missing toy would put a damper on the evening. The thief was hauled away without much fuss. Sam turned back to her and offered to 'question' her over a drink. Her smile split into a grin. She laughed a moment before answering.

"Is that how you interrogate all your witnesses or am I just lucky?"

Cosmina gave a low chuckle. He really was an interesting one, this Sam.

"Of course I'll join you either way. Wouldn't want to obstruct justice or anything of the sort."

Her named was Cosmina Walker, an interesting enough name maybe one he could figure out the meaning to during the questioning or maybe he could just leave it up to the imagination it sounded like an exotic first name after all, it wasn’t one he had heard before. Cosmina grinned and laugh at his request for his own interrogation and then asked if she was lucky? Sam smirked slightly trying to answer her the best and most honest way he could. ”Could be the ladder.” he said simply, she was defiantly lucky and he usually did some interrogation on his own though it didn’t always result with drinks.

When she answered him he let out a small laugh, ”Ah, a good citizen!” continuing to smile Sam shifted his gaze to the streets looking for a location decent enough to conduct said interrogation with his… witness. ”Hmmmm…. You know any decent places around here?” Sam asked curiously not exactly sure what part of the city he was in seeing as he didn’t really use streets or sidewalks like everyone else. Ice slides were always far more enjoyable and faster than a cab or a bicycle.

It was then he spotted the street sign down the street, ”Isn’t the Tavern on 3rd around here?” he asked curiously not sure if he was where he thought he was. It was then he spotted a familiar location the gym of the parking lot they were in. ”And we are near the Tavern!” looking from the gym to Cosmina then to the street where the Tavern was located Sam lifted his arm slightly, ”You up for a walk or would you prefer something faster?” Sam asked his feet iced over quickly as he was lifted into the air.

All in all Cosmina figured that her evening would be an enjoyable one. Sam wasn't bad to look at and flirtatious in his own right. She'd had a good work out with Basile, a brief encounter with a thief who in all honestly could only have evaded police up until tonight by sheer luck, and now drinks with the man responsible for saving her from the thief. It all added up to make for decent prospects for the evening. Though she had to smirk at the good citizen comment. Anyone that knew her in her professional capacity would never say such a thing.

She was just about to mention the Tavern when Sam beat her to it. Apparently he'd been around here before. That made things easier. Cosmina let him ramble on until he stopped with a question. Would she prefer to walk or use his little ice trick? The Tavern wasn't far. She could easily walk no problem. However experiencing that little ice slide for herself would garner her a tiny bit more information about him and specifically his mutation. She grinned.

"Fast is good."

Once they got to the bar the interrogation was going to be mutual. He could ask his questions and would likely get lies for answers depending on what he asked. She would be asking some questions of her own. Knowing one's enemy made all the difference in most scenarios Cosmina could think of. Since there was a possibility he could end up her enemy at some point getting to know him would be a good idea.

Sam almost laughed when she said fast was good, almost. Lifting his hands up and walking over to Cosmina with a smirk Sam scooped her up in a cradling position. A bold move was in play as Sam’s hand slid from her rear to the back of her legs. Not playing much into it Sam jumped into the air slightly and started moving his legs as ice started to form under his feet. The slide was activated and they were moving towards the bar where Sam would conduct the interrogation.

However there would be a small detour one that Sam just decided to take. So instead of going straight to the bar Sam shifted upwards and to the right passing over the street next to them and eventually the first low building as they climbed higher and higher. Rounding another building Sam smirked as he brought his attention back to the bar and changed direction towards it. A minute passed and they touched back down on the sidewalk as the ice slide behind them melted away into nothing. ”Yes, I know what your thinking it was still faster than walking…”

With a smug grin and a wink Sam set Cosmina down and then motioned towards the bar door as he opened it, ”Welcome to the tavern on 3rd!” as they entered Sam looked around and then decided to let her pick the location because the location in the bar did say a lot about the situation, ”Now I have to ask, what kind of drink do you prefer…. And yes, this is a part of the interrogation.”

The cheeky flirt picked her up! Not only that but he distinctly copped a feel while he was at it. Cosmina grinned at him as he essentially skated them down the street using the same trick he had used to descend safely from the rooftop. Even with a bit of a detour he'd taken in an attempt to either impress or startle her they made decent time and arrived at the bar before they would have had they walked. Before he set her down Cosmina blatantly reached behind him and gave his rear a squeeze. Turn about was fair play after all. She made no move to pardon the action or give reason, merely smirked as he welcomed her to the bar. Following this he asked what she preferred to drink.

"Tonight I think beer."

Cosmina had tried many different alcohols over the years. Eventually she'd decided that while there were many different flavors she truly didn't favor any particular alcohol over others. They would all succeed in getting a body drunk. The only difference being how quickly they could achieve that end. Sam appeared to be leaving the choice of seating to her. With that in mind she chose a booth off to one side. It was roomy enough to allow each of them their space if they wanted it and there weren't too many people nearby. She led the two of them over to her chosen table and sat down.

"So Sam, aside from my drink order, what did you want to ask me?"

Would he put duty before pleasure and put aside their flirtatious games until she'd answered the appropriate questions regarding the near theft of her car? Or would mix the two together, hoping to lower her guard by continuing flirt with her and slipping the questions in here and there? Perhaps he'd do neither but she'd do her best to be ready for it. So far he was nearly as much fun as her toy had been. Of course much of her toy's fun had stemmed from cleverness and naivete. Sam appeared to have the cleverness but he certainly didn't seem naive.

Still surprised that she blatantly grabbed his rear Sam followed her with a smirk as they walked over to a booth that was more secluded than most of the seats in the bar, things were looking up for him. ”Beer… I see…” Sam said committing it to memory and acting like this was still part of the interrogation. Even though there really wasn’t anything left for him to interrogate her about, he did happen to see everything; no this was more for him than for his work, he could wait to hear about what they found out about the would be car thief.

”Just a bit of information is all!” Sam said with a smirk on his face as he sat down and then waited for their waiter or waitress to ask them what they would be having. Sliding into the center of his booth he waited a moment thinking of his next question.

Checking her had for a ring Sam confirmed that she was indeed not taken, ”Now I don’t want to hold you long I don’t want your boyfriend to be waiting long…” Sam said casually hoping that she would correct him if he was wrong about her having a boyfriend.

”Also, I have to say I was very impressed with the way you handled yourself when you were being held at gun point.” Sam said noticing their waitress was walking towards them with sour look on her face

Mina ignored Sam's comment about her choice of beverage. As he sat Cosmina casually gave the other patrons a quick once over to see if there was anyone who might possibly end up being trouble. No one stood out so she returned her attention to her drink partner just in time for him to make a comment that essentially amounted to him trying to see if she was single. Her mouth curved into yet another smirk.

"If you wanted to know if I'm single all you had to do was ask."

She raised one shoulder in a shrug and noted the approach of a waitress with an expression that definitely wasn't happy. Mina wondered briefly why the woman looked so annoyed but didn't really care. She waited to finish her response until after Sam had praised her once again for her bravery in front of a gun.

"And yes, I am single."

Boyfriends were a simple waste of time at best and an active threat to one's health at worst. Why bother?

"I've been on the wrong end of a gun barrel enough to know that panicking only helps make you dead quicker."

Of course more often she'd observed that in her victims rather than having to undergo it herself but the statement held regardless of which end of the gun she'd learned it from.