It was late in a normal town in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the full moon illuminated the sky which was cloudless, a perfect night some would say for star gazing others were busy sleeping this late night away or at least attempting to, Sam was having trouble sleeping peacefully again, but to be fair when you had to go through all the things he went through it was kind of hard to sleep like a baby.

The bed shook each time he moved; threatening to wake the woman and the love of his life sleeping next to her, the more he shook the more she started to wake, it was a cold night and despite it being the middle of winter Sam was having a dream, one that would make the most hardened man shake and sweat. He rolled over one more time as he started to mumble words that were to jumbled to make sense of.

Flashes of blood shoot across his dreamed vision, white screens played momentarily as he glimpsed himself being tortured reliving everything he had to be put through as a kid, the sound of screams of woman and children when he came into their house collecting members of their family it was for the greater good after all it was a crime to be a mutant but that didn’t stop the government from using him. He hunted his own kind, killed them, kidnapped and gave away not caring what happened to them; it was the life he was brought up in. Stolen away from birth Sam didn’t know better but that didn’t mean it didn’t eat away at him over time.

Eventually Sam realized something that he once thought was the right thing to do turned out to be the very opposite, he was tired of it all, watching people live normal and safe lives when he had to risk everything to make sure the mutant threat wasn’t a problem. Hell most people thought mutants were a hoax until one would make a scene it was then Sam was sent in through the shadows to solve the problem.

Years passed and he felt it eating away at his soul, his life and he decided enough was enough, he ran they chased and he eventually got away, it had been ten years but he was free nightmares were a small price to pay for still having a soul and a life. He didn’t die at the age of twenty like most of the mutants he had known in fact now that he was off the radar he had it pretty nice, a fiancé who had a kid and one of his own well on the way, and a respectable job as a construction worker.

“Sam… Sam…” he felt himself being pushed and his body jerked up in a reaction his body drenched in sweat, he gasped for cool air as the blankets fell off his bare chest, ”Honey, your having another nightmare… was it…” she didn’t speak of the words but he nodded, ”Sorry…” he ran his hand over his wet brow and sighed his mutation making his breath visible as he tried to cool himself down.

”Do you want to talk about it?” Ashley asked as she placed a hand on the opposite side of his cheek pulling his face to face her towards his, ”No…” he sighed again and leaned forward and kissed her lips and placed his hand on her stomach which was round and bulbous with their nine month old unborn girl any day now she should be popping out and Sam could officially say he was a father. Sure he had Tommy, Ashley’s thirteen year old boy but still it wasn’t he same even if he had been playing daddy since he arrived on their doorstep.

Tommy was like Sam a mutant and for a period of time was hunted, just like him. If Sam hadn’t saved him and Ashley when he did things would have turned out very differently, but they moved and changed their names making it harder for them to track and seeing as Sam was an expert at tracking they were safe no one was going to find them.

”You get some rest alright, your sleeping for two remember?” he kissed her again and then rolled out of bed, ”Gonna go check on Tommy and go take a look at something…” Sam said as he walked out of the room and headed down the hallway passed the pictures of him and Ashley her dirty blonde hair lighting up a few of the pictures as he passed by. He yawned slightly and opened the door to Tommy’s room and poked his head in.

Comic book on his face and the night stand light on he sighed and entered picking up the comic book and shut off the light making the room dark, pulling up the sheet to cover Tommy, Sam smiled and exited the room and tiptoed down stairs into the kitchen where he opened up the fridge and removed a beer. Cracking it open and lifting it to his lips he inhaled and was about to exhale a cool breath on it making the darkened brew frostier than it was. He however stopped and took a sip of his drink not activating his mutation, he couldn’t get sloppy you get sloppy you get caught and that was something he wouldn’t want to put Ashley and Tommy through.

Picking up a remote he turned on the late night news and flipped through a few channels until he found his normal new station, “Freak electrical storms over Detroit have meteorologists baffled….” He stopped paying attention for a second already knowing what that meant, a mutant was to blame and they would have him in custody and put to death within the hour… he sighed and took another sip of his beer as he watched a peaceful protest go awry when police arrived on scene with tear gas, the television read “Pro-Mutant protesters” he didn’t need to finish reading it, he knew how it ended, a freak accident and a few death while a few ended up locked away.

Sam sighed and took another sip of is beer chugging the contents down as he turned off the television and the kitchen lights and went back upstairs to where Ashley was no doubt up waiting for him.

Gawain was lying in bed, trying to recognize the ceiling.
It didn't look familiar.
Nor did the bed, for that matter. It was waaay bigger than his bed at the Mansion.
Oh boy.

Okay, so last night didn't exactly go as planned. They sneaked out, complete with fake ID's, got some booze...
... and the rest was blank.
Oh boy, was it so very blank.

Someone moved on his right side. Bare skin brushed against his... bare skin. Gawain turned his head. He saw a mess of dark hair.
Owwww sh*t. Italics and underlined.
Then, something moved on his left side too.

I'm dead. I. Am. So. Dead. There is no way in hell someone could be more dead than me. No. Way.

Somehow, Gawain managed to sneak out of bed without waking the... ladies. He only took a glance out the window before he decided it was a bad idea.
Seattle.
How did I come all the way to Seattle in one night?...
Damn.
He made it all the way to the bathroom of the (unfamiliar) apartment before the next surprise hit him. Like a ton of bricks.

"Whadda..." he stared at his reflection in the mirror. For long minutes.

So. Apparently. I didn't shift last night. BUT. I got, like, ten years older. And I've got a freaking tattoo?!
Boy do my eyes look red.

"Allright, this ain't funny."

So, some freaky mutant was messing with him again. Yeah. That must be it. There was no way in hell there was any other explanation. This person in the mirror... he just didn't look right.

A sleepy female voice called out from the bedroom.

"Gawain?..."

The ladies had to search in vain. The bathroom was empty.

*****

By the time he got to the door of the house in Colorado Springs, Gawain felt like he had just been dragged through hell.
(All right. Minus the car. He found that in his own garage. That ride was sweeet.)
The past week felt like a nightmare. Heck, it probably was a nightmare. He just didn't seem to be able to wake up on his own. So he looked for help. Familiar faces. Fellow mutants. Someone who could say something. Help.
Finally, he managed to track down Sam. It was not easy. No Mansion, now X-men. What. The. ****. If he hadn't remembered where he used to live, he probably would never have found him.
But he did.

Knocking on the door, he really hoped it was the right address.

It had been a few days since his last major night terror episode and things were starting to pick up around the house, Tommy just finished school and was officially on summer vacation and Ashley’s water broke and she was all ready to drop a kid so sure enough Sam had to call off work for a few days to make sure the house wouldn’t catch fire with Tommy unsupervised he had a habit making things happen when he got bored so it was Sam’s duty to keep him out of trouble.

Walking towards the front door, which just sounded as someone knocked on the door. Rocky (Tommy’s husky) let out a loud bark signaling that he was running the show. Pushing Rocky aside with his leg Sam called out to Tommy, ”Call the wolf, and get ready we gotta go see your mom and your baby sister!” Sam said beaming with a look on his face he didn’t sport often, he had a beautiful baby girl one that he could call his own; nothing could take away the ray of sunshine he was sporting.

Opening the door he spotted a guy in his mid twenties with a look of confusion on his face, ”Top of the morning to ya!” Sam said with a wide smile quickly reacting to the eager husky ready to goose the stranger now that the door was open. Hand on the collar Sam pulled Rocky back into the house and then called out for Tommy, ”Call the wolf!” within seconds the dog’s ears perked and then Rocky turned around and ran towards the stairs with his tail wagging.

”Sorry about that! What can I do help you with?” Sam asked the young and somewhat familiar man, he couldn’t place it but he knew the man somehow.

>>”Call the wolf, and get ready we gotta go see your mom and your baby sister!”

Gawain heard that through the door, and decided to ignore it. There was so many weird stuff going on, he couldn't just stop and deal with every little detail that didn't make sense. So, CS had a family. Good for him.

>> ”Top of the morning to ya! Sorry about that! What can I do help you with?”

He also had two eyes. It looked weird. For a moment, Gawain blinked at him, thrown off track by the fact that he looked older and... different. But he ws definitely the person he'd been looking for, and he felt a great deal of relief that he finally found a familiar face.

"Sam!" he sighed, almost smiling "Thank God! It's me, Gawain. Whoah, I've been loking for you for days, man." he paused; he prepared a little speech for the ocasion, but now it all seemed too messed up, so he just blurted out the whole thing as it came.

"Look, Sam, it's kinda embarrassing but looks like somehow I managed to black out the past ten years." pause "... whoah that must have been some strong stuff..." pause, back on track "Listen, what the hell is going on? What happened to the Mansion? And the X-men? And..." he took a breath "I think I missed a lot. And you're the only one I managed to find." he looked up at him, waiting to see his reaction "So. Um. Hi."

A look of slight concern touched Sam’s brow as he looked to the man once again and then tightened his grip on the door handle ready to shut it if need be, ”I’m sorry… What the hell are you talking about?” Sam asked as the cheer he was showing seconds before slowly faded away, sure it was great Ashley had a kid but… if this was one of T.A.T’s agents they were going to have to pack up and move again, no way in hell he’d let anyone get near Tommy, or Ashley, or their new baby.

”I think you might have the wrong person… I don’t know of a mansion or of an X-Men…” Sam looked away for a second when Tommy ran down the stairs with the wolf. Holding out his hand Sam warded Tommy away from the door so whoever this ‘Gawain’ person was he couldn’t harm Tommy. Sure this guy didn’t present a clear danger but he said he had been looking for him, and he knew his name that alone was enough to throw up walls around his house unfortunately he was on the lamb presumed dead, last thing he wanted to do was throw up a giant wall of ice telling everyone where he was.

”I’m sorry you got the wrong person… best of luck to you ” Sam said as he got ready to close the door, already slowly closing it, he didn’t know who this guy was but he didn’t want to jeopardize anything. ”Tommy get a jacket and we’ll get going…” Sam said his hand still on the handle as Tommy walked to the back door not willing to ask who that was.

>> ”I’m sorry… What the hell are you talking about? I think you might have the wrong person… I don’t know of a mansion or of an X-Men… I’m sorry you got the wrong person… best of luck to you ”

Sam was about to shut the door in his face. After ten years, and like, forever, he was ready to just shut him out.
Great.

"No, Sam, wait" Gawain said, pushing against the door so he couldn't close it (he was not dumb enough to put a foot in too) "Come on! It's me. Gawain. Y'know, guy who walks in mirrors? Turns into a girl, occasionally? Friggin' hell, Sam,you trained me! Xavier's School for mutants? Saving the world? Team of good guys?.... Any of it ring a bell?"

Okay, so he was desperate now. If Sam shut him out, he lost the last straw; he couldn't find anyone else. It was as if they had just... disappeared.

"Sam, please. I'm freakin' out here. Imagine wakin' up one day not remembering the last ten years!"

This. Sucks. So. Bad.

The door didn’t close; this Gawain character was persistent as hell what’s more he was adamant on getting Sam to listen to him, something Sam wanted no part off till he dropped mention of walking through mirrors. Sam blinked for a second and his hand slipped and the door swayed open so not only he but also Tommy could see Gawain as well who came back with his jacket. “Holy Shit!” Tommy cursed as he spotted Gawain like he knew him. Sam blinked slightly and looked from Tommy to Gawain, ”You know him Tommy?” Sam asked.

“Yeah…” Tommy said as his jaw dropped, He was in that superhero movie! Captain Mayhem!” Sam blinked when he suddenly remembered the movie and the face. ”You have ten minutes to talk,” Sam said looking at his watch then over to Tommy, ”Go get your autograph book…” Tommy happily obliged and Sam looked back to Gawain, ”Get in the house and shut the door…”

Once they were both inside Sam looked to the man, ”What did you mean walk through mirrors?” cause if he meant what Sam thought he meant this was a very stupid mutant. One that could get not only Sam rediscovered but Tommy and Ashley as well.

>>"He was in that superhero movie! Captain Mayhem!”

"I was?" Gawain blinked as he looked at the kid, he didn't look like Sam and he was too old to be his anyway... well, maybe not, but still, Sam was a father?! Weird. Epic weird.
Also. Superhero movie?! I'm famous and I don't even remember?! See, that's what Hollywood does to people. Am I a drug addict or something?

>> ”You have ten minutes to talk. Get in the house and shut the door… What did you mean walk through mirrors?”

All right, great, back on track.

"What do you think I mean?" Gawain asked once he walked in and shut the door, Sam was still the Boss even if he didn't know it "I'm a mutant like you, genius. Among other things apparently."

I've got ink that looks like I got in on New f*** Zealand.

"Look, Sam, you really don't remember? That can't be right. You were, like, the leader of the X-man. Frankly I have no clue if I played any superheroes on screen in the last ten years, but where I come from, we were the real deal. Costumes and all."

It seemed the actor didn’t know he was an actor, that or he was being a wise ass… if that was the case he had five minutes to talk, and after that he was back out on the street, and he and Tommy were off to the hospital to see the new member of the family along with Ashley. They were his family his everything, his purpose was to love and protect them, something he never thought was possible when he was younger.

He was a mutant… enough was said and Sam walked into the next room and looked out the window quickly before shutting the blinds. He didn’t see anything suspicious but that didn’t meant his was a set up. ”How do you know I’m a mutant…” Sam turned and folded his arms and stared the man down before debating if killing this actor would be the best solution. Then again if he was famous he’d be missed and odds are other people might have seen him around the house.

There it was again what the hell was the X-Man, and when he was a leader? The only thing Sam ever led was a strike team one that resulted in the deaths and capture of hundreds of mutants, something he didn’t want to remember.

”I have no idea what your talking about and I’m sorry you can’t remember anything but I don’t think I’m the guy your looking for.” just then Sam’s ears rang slightly when Tommy yelled, “Sam I can’t find it!” Sam shook his head, ”Did you check your desk?” there was nothing for a second then a stumbling down the stairs as Tommy and Rocky.

Tommy walked over to Gawain and handed him the book and a pen with a wide smile on his face, “It was in my desk just where you said to find it!” Sam nodded his head and looked to Gawain and waited for him to sign the book, ”Does anyone know you’re here?” walking over to the window again Sam lifted the blind slightly and peered out the window.

>>”How do you know I’m a mutant…”

"You are... aren't you?" Gawain bit his lips, suddenly feeling panic as he looked at Sam "Ice based mutation, golems, that kinda stuff? We used to call you Cold Steel."

>>”I have no idea what your talking about and I’m sorry you can’t remember anything but I don’t think I’m the guy your looking for.”

"Hell yes you are" Gawain sighed "Look, this really didn't make sense. Maybe we were, dunno, brainwashed or something."

Gawain looked down at Tommy in confusion - did he really want an autograph? Glancing up at Sam, then back to the kid, Gawain sighed, and signed his name, letting the boy skitter off happily.

>>”Does anyone know you’re here?”

"No" Gawain shook his head, quite desperate now "Couldn't find anyone else from the team. Took me forever to track you down." he looked at Sam "So, what happened? How come you... I mean, really? Family, kid, dog, the whole deal?"