Covering One's Ass (Jorge)

“I don’t care, we need to find these people,” Jorge rolled his eyes as he slammed his phone onto the cradle.

Another officer had cautiously come up to his desk with a file in hand and held it out for him. The detective looked up, arched and brow. The grizzly, almost bear-like man nodded towards the papers in curiosity.

“What’s that?”

“Um, just some of the information you requested about the Nicholas’. Their store went under last month and reports indicate that they vacated that address not longer after. The…the trail is cold.”

Jorge’s eyes turned hard as he watched the officer. He was not mad at him, he was just getting angry because he hated when information came up with dead ends. He doubted that Agnes would have fed Gemma false information. Unfortunately, from what he heard, Agnes had left the residence almost a year ago. A lot can happen in a year for fanatics like that. It was entirely possible that they packed up and simply left town. Still though…it would not hurt to eventually check out that residence. There may be something left behind…

With a low and just barely audible growl, Jorge turned away from officer, nodded his head and waved him off.

“Thanks Jenkins,” he nodded “I appreciate your looking into it.”

He sighed as he sat back in his chair and stared at his computer screen. It was absolutely a mad day. There was so much going on around the office, missing persons, murders, mutants on the loose, it was just an absolute mad house today. And on top of all that, he was making very little headway in his own cases. Either he was getting false information or outdated. It was just not going well for the detective right now. If there was one thing he did not want to do was let anyone down and he felt suspiciously like he was. What else could possibly go wrong today?

Oh right, a extremely tight men’s pants standing in front of his desk showcasing…what he really didn’t need to see.

“Whoa, kid,” Jorge turned away, attempting to show some decorum by not looking.

>> "Detective Cervantes? I need help.”[/color]

“Obvious? Or a time machine to the 70’s at least,” he arched at brow as he looked at the kid. Immediately he recognized him from the library incident a few months back. “Shin, correct? A-Are those the pants you were assigned?” he asked, trying not to find the scene humorous.

Let’s face it though, it was. But Jorge was better at hiding it.

>> "You said you'd fix this. Or die trying. I'm paraphrasing here, but I am fairly certain that is what you said…So, can you? And after that, I have a few questions..."

Jorge arched a brow, instantly confused. “Huh, I really don’t remember the ‘Or die trying’ part, but I remember saying I’d help you.”

Really those pants were simply too tight. It must have been the other officers trying to haze the young X-Man for horning in on their turf. That was one thing that Jorge simply did not stand for. The world was falling apart outside those doors. It was not time for people to be trying lines in the sand and refusing people who want to legitimately help them out. It simply did not make any sense to do so. Jorge, for one, was glad to know that someone was out there willing to watch his back and not worry about pensions and such.

It was a crazy world and they needed all the help possible, even from some of the craziest of places.

Once more glance to Shin and Jorge could only shake his head and nodded to the seat on the other side of his desk. “Have a seat, if, you know, you can.”

With that he plucked his phone off the cradle and quickly dialed for the receptionist. Immediately Cynthia’s high-pitched voice rang through the phone and Jorge had to hold the receiver off to the side. He groaned as he listened to the woman immediately call out “Who was there” before he finally put it back to his ear and answered.

“Cynthia, transfer me to Charlie, please.” he sighed as the call was connected. Once it was the detective immediately started in on the man on the other line. He told him about how unfunny his prank towards the X-Man initiate was and how Jorge was going to go directly to the chief with this information that he was publicly hazing someone. The man on the other line struggled to keep his composure before he finally broke down. Jorge nodded as he spoke into the phone. “Well see that you do correct, Charlie. Because I’m telling you, I’m not in the mood today. I will personally oversee that you don’t screw it up again.”

He sighed as he set his phone back onto the cradle and turned his attention back to Shin. That was one issue down, now onto the questions.

“After this, I’ll walk you up to see Charlie so that you can get a decent pair of pants. Now then,” he said as he rest back in his chair a bit, arms crossed over his chest. “You said you had questions?”

>> "Good…I don't think that's physically possible at the minute, no. Thank you."

“Of course,” Jorge said as he attempted to look away from the extreme tightness of those pants. That alone had to be a crime. Maybe there really should be division of the force known as the Fashion Police.

But if they’re so uncomfortable, why is he wearing them? Jorge thought to himself as he averted his gaze again.

>> Thanks…Thank you, really. The guys that set me up really set me up..."

Jorge nodded. He was all too familiar with police force hazings. He himself had been a victim of that when he first joined the police back in Miami. He still remembered the first time he walked to his locker, opened it retrieve his Kevlar vest and found that it was not replaced, but in fact had been dyed pink and covered all over with rhinestones and little pink bows. It was a good laugh and it was all in good fun.

But this, this was just plain cruel. It was one thing to do so in good fun, but it was obvious that the staff here was simply trying to haze the X-Man masking as a police officer. Offices don’t always care when vigilantes horn in on their turf and apparently many of them were going to take this involvement a little harshly. He would make sure to set them all straight…

Jorge sighed as he leaned back in his chair a bit, watching Shin. There was obviously more that the kid needed to say but damn they needed to get this pant situation under control.

>> "My father wants me to become a cop…I've checked the NYPD website, and there are programs for helping officers through college that include training. I think I'd like to try that. And maybe, it might get the officers to look at me with a bit more respect."

Jorge smirked a bit but not out of mocking, but out of respect. The kid was going to willingly walk himself into a hornets nest instead of shying away. Not many people had the guts to do something like then. But the kid had a point. Maybe if he did this as any college student interested in joining the police force, it would earn her a little more respect.

He nodded, chuckled. “Sounds like a plan, kid. I can take you to our receptionist. She has the information you’ll need. But first…We need to get you into a decent pair of pants.”

>> "I should be able to figure out which ones will fit by sight. Just get me a mirror."

“Can do,” Jorge responded with a friendly smile as he removed himself from his desk and walked around Shin.

As they headed out of the main MRC offices, the detective led the X-Man, towards one of their elevators that would take them to the supplies and clothing department of the precinct. Jorge really disliked having to do this. Playing a joke was one thing but hazing simply was not tolerated, especially not in his book. It really seemed as if Shin was on the level with joining the force and, if he was, he was going to help him as best he could.

Waiting for the elevator to come, Jorge thought back to the last time he met Shin. The kid showed some impressive abilities back the library. He would definitely make a great asset to the force, especially the MRC if he managed to make it through all of that training. They needed as many good people as they could get and Shin definitely had the good heart, the compassion, and the bravery to back up working in this field. He would keep an eye on the kid to see how he did once he decided to join.

Anything to up their ranks a bit would help out. He hoped that more X-Men would decided to take this path as well. It would definitely help their public image to stay out of the masks and costumes and put on the uniform of the law. At least in his view it would give the public a better understanding of who they were.

Once the doors opened, Jorge stepped aside and waited for Shin to walk in. Jorge quickly followed and pushed the button for the floor they needed to go.

“So? You have any more questions?” he asked.

>> "Too many."

Well, Jorge had asked the kid if he had any more questions. It seemed that the boy was going to take him up on the offer. As the doors closed and they began to move up to the necessary floor, the detective found himself bombarded with questions that, quite frankly, he didn’t have all the answers to. But he knew he was going to help the kid as much as possible. He seemed dedicated and was good at what he did.

The MRC could definitely use an asset like him.

Jorge said nothing, though as he simply listened to Shin ask his questions. As he ran through each one of them, Jorge could only smirk a little. It was obvious that he was eager to get this rolling, unfortunately he really did not know all the answers.

>> "I'm sorry…Really, those were too many questions. I'm apparently just really excited about this whole thing and want to make sure I've got everything right. You can refuse to answer all of those questions, if you so choose. But one thing I'd love is a letter of recommendation. That'd probably look swell."

“Well, unfortunately there’s not a lot of those I can answer,” Jorge said with a nod. “I don’t really know the procedure for inducting a X-Man into the police force. But I’m sure we can find the answer together.”

The kid wanted to get to work, that was obviously. But he was going to have to get the people at registration to answer his questions. As much as Jorge wanted to help, there was really little he knew about what he could do. He did not want to make the kid promises that would only be broken later because he was not properly informed. He became a cop the hard way; schooling, police academy, years of training. There was little he knew about hiring policies these days. But he’d help as much as he could.

A letter of recommendation would definitely help though.

“Well let’s see what the people at registration say first. They may be able to offer you answers that I cannot,” Jorge said honestly. As their floor dinged and announced their arrival, Jorge nodded to Shin. “But I have no problem writing a letter of recommendation for you. After all, I’ve seen you work. MRC could use a person with talents like yours.”

>> "That's really all I could ask…Thank you…"

Jorge nodded that it was no problem and continued to lead the X-Men off to the uniform department where Charlie worked. It was obvious that the man was still irritated with the whole situation. The X-Man had proved to be a great help and all he wanted was to legally join the police force and use his abilities for a good cause. There was no higher purpose in Jorge’s book. He had seen some of the kid’s talents so he knew he would be a good addition, so he was not going to allow any close-minded fools to make the kid’s experience hell.

With a sigh stepped into the department and immediately spied Charlie behind his desk. He was a large man with thin, wireframe glasses and a huge gut on his skinny frame that could barely be contained by his suit. The second he saw Cervantes walk in, the man began to sweat profusely. He pretended to look busy behind his desk, but it was obvious that he had nothing to do.

“Charlie!” Jorge announced jovially. “Long time no see. How’re things?”

The man paused, saying nothing and stared at Jorge closely, as if trying to decide if the police officer was being serious or not. Finally he nodded. “What’dya want, Cervantes? Chew me out in person?”

“Nope, just making sure you know how to do your job,” he said as he nodded over to Shin, the young X-Man in the pants way too tight. “You know, because obviously that was a mistake that you need to rectify right now.”

Jorge continued to eye Charlie closely, almost as if he were caught in a staring contest with the man. It was obvious that Charlie did not want to take the time to help Jorge nor the upstart X-Man right now, but one look at the detective’s face and it was apparent that he was not going to have a choice. Still though, as all males do when they are confronted with one of a more aggressive nature, they do everything they can to save face. Though, one look at the shorter much round man when compared to the burly strength that Jorge obviously possessed, it would have been no contest.

Charlie, eyeing the man closely, trying to ignore the sweat drops that dotted his forehead, suddenly blinked and nodded his head. There was no need to argue the matter anymore. Even if he had argued it, Jorge would have found some way to crush him. So the weaker of the two stood, grumbled softly under his breath and reached into his desk for some keys.

“If, the young man will follow me,” he said wearily, looking at Cervantes and attempting not to look at Shin.

The detective watched Charlie closely, his eyebrow arched, as if appraising if the man was worth it or not to punch. One second passed…then another…and Jorge then just grinned wide. He nodded as he stood away from the desk and glanced back to Shin who seemed to be waiting patiently. He waved the X-Man over and pointed him towards Charlie.

“Alright Shin, Charlie over there is going to check the uniform storage. You tell him your exact size,” Jorge turned his eyes back onto Charlie. “I’m sure that he won’t make the same mistake again to an up and coming young officer such as yourself. Will he?”

The fat man sweated, twitching slightly at being challenged in such a way but with no recourse of action to take revenge. He mentally growled but stammered as he nodded his head.

“Of course not. C-Clerical error…that’s all it was…” He cleared his throat as he finally seemed to acknowledge Shin’s presence with a nod. “Follow me. We’ll get you the correct uniform.”