Inner Workings (Jorge)

Jorge sat in silence on his sofa, staring at his arm when he held out in front of him. A few days had already passed since the ordeal. Now he was finally comfortable with being left alone, but unfortunately that also caused a small bit of paranoia. The last time he was alone, he had quite literally melted into a puddle of water and could barely hold himself together. The only reason he still was not a puddle was because Gemma became concerned and practically flew to his apartment. With her ability to turn off mutant powers, he suddenly transformed back to his human state. To be honest he didn’t know if in fact he would have returned back to human at all after that mess.

Days have passed and taking a few days of sick leave, Jorge sat in his apartment and did his best to not overwork himself. He didn’t know if the reason he shifted had anything to do with his emotional state or what, but so far so good. The detective took the time to sleep, catch up on his reading, and even attempt to watch some television; all in an attempt to keep himself calm and not risk becoming water again.

But…by today, the good detective was getting a little stir crazy. That was why he sat on his sofa, practically glaring at his arm and willing it to transform again. He needed to get a handle on this. If his abilities really were growing, he could not waste time being scared of them.

Arm shaking to be steady, Jorge groaned to himself as he stared at his arm and attempted to shift again. Muscles tense, jaw clenched, the man shook as he willed something…anything to happen! Then…only a single drop of what was more than likely sweat formed and rolled off the side of his arm.

“Dammit.” he growled to himself.

So far he was he was having absolutely no luck, but maybe that was a good thing. He really should not be practicing these new found abilities by himself. He needed a spotter. Gemma was the best candidate because if he could not will himself to shift back, at least he would have her there to knock himself back into human form.

Standing, dressed down to his black Miami Dolphins sweatpants and a loose, dark blue T-shirt, the man headed into his kitchen to put some tea on the kettle. It was only as he was just about to grab his teapot when he heard the sound of scampering. Brushing back his black and silver-peppered hair with his open hand, he smirked a little as he saw Lizzie bound up to him. His loyal and beloved bulldog was standing nearby, panting and looking up at him. She had a look that Jorge always interpreted as a smile.

Kneeling, the detective patted his knee and watched as Lizzie bounded up and began to yip and bark and scamper at him. Laughing he scratched behind both her ears and petted her fondly.

“I’m okay, girl. I promise,” he smirked as he patted her head. “You can stop worrying about me.”

Aroof!

The dog replied dismissively and went back to licking and nipping at his hands lovingly. Jorge could only chuckle, but as he was petting the animated dog, a sudden knocking struck his door. His eyebrow arched, the detective stood and left his teapot cold on the counter as he made his way towards his front door. As he arrived, he peeked into the peep hole and immediately spotted a thin, white haired woman waiting on the other side. She looked familiar but Jorge was not entirely sure who she was.

Scamper, scamper, scamper…

A glance down and Lizzie was immediately at his side, shifting back and forth and looking at the door anxiously. A yip or two and she took a position eyeing the door closely. Jorge tried to place the woman’s face as he grabbed the door handle, unlocked the deadbolt and pulled it open. As he did he stood blocking the entrance as he tilted his head and eyed the woman closely.

“Can I help you?” he asked in his usual grizzly-like voice. If that didn’t scare her away then it must be important.

Jorge stood there, looking the white haired woman closely, trying to place where exactly he knew her from. This was odd because he usually had a better memory for people, but as he stood there, watching, he could not shake the feeling that he knew her. It was not just a casual meeting, but he must have seen her at least a couple times. It was embarrassing, to say the least, that he did not remember her off the bat. Hopefully she would introduce herself or say something to prove who she was…

>> "Yes, ah… Jorge?...We worked together before. Me with the X-men, you with the police. You know. The scorpion and the guy with the…Doc said there was a new water elemental form and I have one and, oh goodness. Can I start over again?"[/color]

Please do. he thought while he nodded a bit confused.

Why was she so nervous? God was she going to ask him out for prom or something? But as he ranted briefly in his mind the wheels slowly began to turn and he finally began to remember where he saw her at. On one of his first assignments here in New York, she helped him diffuse a situation between himself and a pair of mutants that were running amok! All he remembered was the polka dot blouse and wondered how that outfit was supposed to strike fear into the criminal element. Apparently it worked though, since they both survived.

But as he stood there, a small smirk coming to his face as he remembered the situation, the woman went on and he finally remembered fully who she was…

>> "Hi. DocProf of the Mansion sent me. My name is Maya Csendes, but you might know me better as Ghost. I'm an air elemental with an air form and I've coached at least one other to help develop his elemental form. The first time we met was when the X-men sent help in order to diffuse a hostage situation. Kealey uh… threw up in a ficus plant."

“Ghost, I remember you now,” he said with an appreciative nod. He nodded as well when he mentioned that the one X-Man Kealey had thrown up in a ficus. He had just seen her recently. The detective was apparently having a meeting with all the X-Men these days.

So she was the one that DocProf recommended to him? He had to admit that he was a little surprised, especially since he wanted to attempt this task of learning his new found ability on his own. But…he would gratefully accept whatever help the X-Men could provide him with. Especially since this woman was another elemental, that may prove useful in honing his own ability. He had seen her shift into air before and while that was different than during into water, her knowledge could nonetheless help him. At least that is what he hoped.

Still though, was kind of embarrassing that such a young lady was going to be teaching him how to use his abilities…

>> "Sorry. I should have called ahead. Can I come in?"

Shaken from his thoughts, it was Jorge’s turn to look slightly embarrassed as he nodded and stepped back, allowing her access to his apartment.

“Of course, ugh, excuse the mess.” he said as he waved her in. “Sorry I didn’t recognize you at first, Ms. Csendes, it’s been…kind of a busy time.”

A short snort sounded from his floor and he looked down to see his happy white bulldog, Lizzie appraising the X-Man closely. The dog sniffed, licked her chops, then looked between Jorge and the Maya. The detective grinned and nodded to the dog that the houseguest was fine. Lizzie immediately took this signal as to meaning that she could sit on her behind and give Maya the cutest dog eyes ever in order to get a treat. Jorge shook his head, sighed, and petted the dog briefly as he made his way into the kitchen to get her treats.

“Please, excuse Lizzie. She loves to get con people into giving her food.” he said as he fished around in his cabinet for the dog’s biscuits. As he returned he looked at the X-Man closely and sighed. “So…DocProf told you about my…situation…then?”

>> "Mrs. Csendes…We'll be married two years this September and our son will be turning twelve in a couple days…Do you have any kids?"

“Oh,” Jorge said a little surprised when he heard that the woman had a 12 year old son. It was hard to pin down her age, but either way, she really looked too young to have a son that old. Then again, she simply could have adopted, he was not going to pry. “Congratulations on your marriage. Two years…that’s excellent to hear.”

As he stepped back in he pulled a pair of biscuits out from the box before he leaned into his kitchen to leave the box on the counter. It was still funny for him to think of these X-Men as having lives outside of their jobs. He knew it was silly. After all they were people too that had wants and needs to have families and successful jobs. In many ways it reminded him of how some people treated police officers. Too many times they are looked at as never being out of uniform. People used to be in awe when they caught him at the grocery store in plains clothes during the time that he was a beat cop. Public figures never like to be thought of as being human as well.

Judging by this young woman the life she had, he was pleased to know that he was wrong as well. She had a partner and a son, and still worked as a X-Man. He had to admit he was a bit impressed.

“Me?” he asked, referring to the question of him having a child. “Unfortunately, no. Just the four legged terror at your feet right now.”

Lizzie rolled onto her back, having successfully charmed the new arrival and attempted to receive stomach rubs.

Jorge rolled his eyes and shook his head as he ducked back into the kitchen to grab a pair of bottled waters. This was going to be strange, receiving training from someone so young, but at least she seemed to know what she was doing. At least he prayed she did since the last thing he wanted to be trapped in his water form with no way of getting back.

As he walked back into the room he handed a bottle of water towards the young woman.

>> "DocProf only said that there was a water elemental that needed help with control. I-uh haven't gotten a lot of assignments outside of the Mansion since my son came to live with us, so I didn't question it."

Jorge nodded in understanding as he watched the move straighten herself up, leaving the separating her pettings from the dog. Lizzie seemed to dislike this and immediately attempted to moving onto her hind legs to beg for more, but Jorge only shook his head. Leaning down he set two dog biscuits on the tile for his beloved bulldog and ushered the white-haired woman into his living room.

>> "Why don't you tell me a little about your water form? How'd it happen? How much do you know about it? Show me something, if you can. If you can't that's okay too, I taught Zephyr from scratch."[/color]

“Well, I’ll tell you what I can,” Jorge said with a nod towards one of his chairs so Ghost could sit. Opening his bottle of water, he took a long drink, sighed a bit as he claimed his seat once again and turned his attention onto her. “It happened a few days ago. See few months back, I got into this situation where…I had to manipulate more water than I was used to. Ever since that day, I was feeling…off. Strange. I was drinking more water, I was tired, on top of that, work has been insane. Anyways, a few days back, I’m on the phone with my girlfriend and…I just suddenly feeling horrible. I’m…getting dizzy spells, I’m thirsty so I struggle to stand and before I know it…I collapsed…” Jorge shrugged as he took another sip. “After that…I don’t know how to describe it. I just felt cold, wet, and spread out too thin. I had to concentrate to feel like I was still holding myself together. I could barely see or hear, it was as if I had my head dunked under water, but I didn’t have a physical body like I know I’m supposed to have. It was just a strange sensation everywhere.” He shrugged as he sighed and sat back in his chair. “Luckily my girlfriend arrived not long after. She has an ability too, she can stop mutations. When she came in she found a puddle and my empty clothes and walked over. The second she got close to me, I apparently reformed. And…I’ve been trying to practice ever since but I can’t seem to get it to happen again.”

Jorge sighed as he once again sat back in his chair and watched Maya think over the situation. He did not want her to come out here for nothing and he hoped that she could help. He was not looking for a cure, but simply a way to control what this new ability he was gaining. She could shift into air, and that was quite a feat in itself. He hoped that whatever tips she had he would able to adapt for himself.

"So...what do you think?" he asked quietly.

The woman had a lot to say about his experience but Jorge was not all that surprised. He knew that he was lucky, that he had dodged a bullet by having someone like Gemma in his life. If it had not been for her, who knows how long it would have been before he was able to reconstruct himself from that puddle of water he had become. She was his saving grace. An angel with the ability to shut off part of his brain.

Funny, that always what he always assumed that love was. A person who could make you lose part of yourself for just an instant whenever they walked into the room. Gemma was like that to him, both figuratively and literally.

And great! Losing clothes was going to be part of the job! That was just freakin’ amazing. So while it may be able to hone his abilities to shift into water form, his pants will evidently not be joining him. A very small shade of crimson flushed his cheeks at the thought of doing that while on duty, but just as quickly as the blush came, it vanished. He was a 41 year old man, he didn’t have time to be embarrassed anymore. These abilities would be a part of him now, so he needed to deal with it.

It was only then that she stood up and decided to offer the detective a demonstration…

>> "I know you're a grown man, but don't freak out okay? I'm doing this on purpose…This probably has a lot to do with the way I first changed, but for me, it's really hard to hold just this little bit. It's a lot easier to go full elemental."

Jorge did not freak out. He was a cop and he had seen many strange things in his life working in law enforcement, even when he was not dealing with mutants. But though he did not freak out, he was a little caught off-guard. His eyes widened briefly, his mouth opened as he muttered an extremely low sounding “wow”. He really had to admit that it was a pretty strange sight to see. The woman was practically erasing herself directly before his eyes, as if she were just a pile of sand that got caught in a breeze.

It was impressive to watch her vanish the way she did and exert the control needed to reform herself. It was the type of control that he wanted to possess. Especially since that puddle form was terrifying enough to begin with. He could barely move himself around. But he guessed as with anything it just took a lot of practice.

Though he was not relishing the thought of practicing this power and finding himself naked in front of this woman. God he only hoped that Gemma would not walk in during one of those…

He listened to her explain. Elementals were all different. Apparently another protégé of hers had a similar problem only he could barely contain a full shift. Such things were different for everyone. The human body is an amazing thing that differed from person to person. Where one man could handle one thing, another man may not and yet excel at something completely different. It would make sense that Jorge would find himself caught between the ease of both shifts. After all he was much older when this mutation happened. His body would find the change much different than someone younger.

That was going to be fun to get around.

>> "Could you hold some water? With your power? I'd like to try something that might help you see..."

“Oh, sure thing,” Jorge said as he turned to the bottle of water he brought for himself.

Taking the bottle up, he unscrewed the cap and set the empty bottle down on his coffee table. As he did took a breath and raised his hand over the top and flicked his fingers. Instantly the water in the bottle responded to his beckoning. A tiny surge and the clear liquid snaked its water out of the bottle and began to take the shape of a sphere. The water swirled and nearly made a perfect sphere as it churned and slowly rotated in the air above his open palm. This was a simple enough task to do. Thankfully the rest of his abilities had not changed as much.

Let the sphere of water float in his hand he nodded to Maya.

“Okay, what do we do now, Yoda?” he asked with a small smile. He really was appreciative of her help. Part of him was very happy he did not have to figure all this out on his own…

>> "Ah-I'm not very good at this so Ill have to change first, but I want you to pay attention to the water in your hand. I mean, really. Pay very good attention. I'll do to your water what I do to myself when I change. I don't know if that will help you change, but... it's the only way I can think for you to see how it works for me."[/i]

Jorge nodded as he focused on the sphere of water he levitated in his hand. The woman one moment was on the peripheral of his vision, then the next she had vanished, disappearing into a barely visible cloud. Jorge did not want to just sit there gawking at the woman that was attempting to help him so he instead focused on the sphere of water in his hand.

It was so eerily quiet with the woman in this form. He could barely hear her, couldn’t see her, and yet he knew that she was nearby. But instead of freaking out and going off to seek her, the detective remained in his seat, letting the sphere of water dance and swirl in the air above his hand. Jorge had been doing things like this for several years now so it took little effort. As a matter of fact there were times where the man would do this simply for the sake of doing it. Sitting alone in his apartment, letting the droplets of water swirl and refract the cascades of light that shown in through his living room window. The sparkles on his wall were entertaining to watch for a time, little lights run through a filter of water. Occasionally, when the light hit the water just right, he could make for himself a mass of small rainbows all over his room.

His gift was both beautiful and dangerous…

But as the detective, lost in the vision of the sphere of water, continued to muse, he was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by the sight of something strange. The water, for a split second began to feel strange. It undulated and slowly began to fade from vision. It was then that he realized that it was Maya who was doing this. She was nearby, making the a portion of the water unravel and vanish. But as she did so, Jorge felt his connection to the water slightly change. It was not something big but he could feel it, he knew that the change was there.

>> "And, to go back."

Carefully the water began to return to vision, though not exactly the way it had vanished. Little droplets began to fall and as they did, Jorge summoned them back to that sphere of water he held in his hand. It was only then that he was finally beginning to grasp what she was trying to show it. This was obvious not something he was going to be able to do, but he was getting a sense of how the water shifted. Knowledge like this, obviously, would be applied to himself shifting into water form and them shifting back.

He felt the molecules of the water separate and alter into the basic components and then disappeared until they began to rain down around him. Is that how he was going to have to treat his own body? He remembered when he first shifted, that strange feeling he had…as if his own body were breaking down. He remembered the amount of water that flew from his mouth and he was coming to the realization that all that was the inside of his body having broken down into water. All of it, it was all still him but it was just different. It had changed into something that he still had control over. The man could manipulate water, so even by turning into water that control should be there. Maybe…all he had to do was learn to control himself…

>> "You… probably have questions."

As he looked up, Jorge spied the barely visible woman as she sat, no…hovered, over the seat she had once occupied. Slowly he manipulated the water to return to the bottle as let his mind race with questions and possible outcomes. His powers were changing. With a gift like water he was not at all surprised more he thought about it. Water was ever changing…therefore he could have to be as well.

He nodded as he turned his attention back to her. “How…do you do it? How do you not keep from just…blowing away?” he asked with a small tinge of concern. “When I had shifted…it took every ounce of strength to keep myself from spreading apart. I have never felt something like that. How do you deal with it? Do you, just hold a picture of yourself in your mind? Or do need to know the exact way in which your body is put together? What concerns me most…I don’t want to lose myself…”

She explained with the expertise of someone who had been doing something like this for a long time. Jorge was not surprised. After all, if someone had come up to him and just started asking him how his own powers worked, he doubted he could describe it as if he were doing it for the first time. For so long now Jorge had had these abilities and had been using them with a great amount of precision; how do you thumb that experience down? But while Ghost was an expert at shifting herself into a form of air, Jorge knew that she was being both patient and understanding with him. He only hoped that he could repay her kindness for taking the time to do this.

This was an extremely interesting and knowledge sight to behold. The woman had explained precisely what her experience was like and he had to admit that while there may have been some similarities, there were a lot more differences. She was more than comfortable with her elemental form and she did not fear being lost to the winds as he feared. Then that type of surety more than likely comes with experience.

The man sighed as he watched her gradually reform, looking completely at ease in her air body. He merely smirked a little and shook his head when she stated she could transform him if he liked. He had a hard enough time with being made of water.

Then she, of course, asked him to do what he had been trying to this whole time…

>> "But it might be more beneficial for you at this point to try changing yourself. Hold on, I'll come back. I want to see it happen…Ah, just in case, do you have your girlfriend's number handy?"[/color]

“Umm…sure…” Jorge said a little doubtfully as he made himself stand up from his seat. As he did, he watched her step back, breathe and slowly come back into being. Damn her for making it look just so easy. When she reformed and returned to her seat, he smirked a little when she asked for his girlfriend’s number. Taking his cell phone up from the coffee table, Jorge handed it over to the X-Man. “Speed dial number 2.”

He then cleared his throat as he leaned down, picked up his coffee table and set it aside. If he was going to do this, he wanted room. The last thing he needed was to knock himself against a table and scatter Jorge droplets all over the room! That is…if he could manage it in the first place. He had tried earlier but to no avail. Then again, this was after spending a substantial amount of time afraid of tapping into that gift to begin with.

He glanced once more to Ghost and sighed. “I’ll give it a shot, but no promises…”

Standing up straight, Jorge slowly closed his eyes and stretched out his arm. Gently he tilted his head as he concentrated trying to make the shift happen. He really did not know what he was looking for in the darkness behind his eyes. When he shifted the first time, the feeling had just suddenly come over him and he couldn’t control it. This time, though, he didn’t have the same sensations. He knew it was in there, somewhere, but he just didn’t know how to tap it.

For at least a full minute, Jorge attempted this but realized that he must have looked silly in the process. Fist clenched, eyes closed, he thought he felt that sensation again but the second he tried to latch onto it, it disappeared, like a tide always flowing away from him. It was only when he thought of water that a gentle ripple appeared on his forearm, but just as quickly as it appeared, it solidified again.

Jorge gasped, exasperated from that alone. Gently he shook his head as he tried to catch his breath.

“I…I…don’t know…how to tap it. It…just keeps flowing away…” he shook his head as he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. New powers at his age were simply not right…

>> "We could try to recreate the situation where your first shifted?"[/i]

That was a possibility, Jorge knew that, but try as he might he really could not think of anything special that happened that day. He was merely on the phone...yelling at someone because of some irritating person that the police were dealing with. To be honest though, could that have really triggered his powers evolving? Jorge got angry over the phone before and never had something like this happened. It must have been a combination of several things. Ever since the Bed & Breakfast incident his powers had been odd to control. That mixed with the agitation at work could have proved to be a volatile combination for his mutation.

But how could they recreate all that here at his home? She dangle him out the window or something? Nah, he doubted their meeting would go that far.

“We could try, but to be honest, I don’t know how. That day was pretty average to me. Just before the shift happened, I was yelling at a guy over the phone, but then I called my girlfriend to calm down. After that was when it happened. I…don’t know if that helps…” Jorge said with a shrug.

He listened intently though, as she described what she went through, as well as several other tips that may help in helping him to gain control over his new abilities. All of it was useful information. Her ability had been triggered through fear and pain. Jorge had heard of those internment camps and knew that they were harsh. Luckily he had honed his current abilities enough when he was younger that he was able to hide his abilities during those witch hunts. The older man suddenly felt as if he were standing in the presence of someone who had an experience that was far more vast than his own. It was evident that she had gone through a lot. He would definitely do his best now.

>> "Do you need to master this form today? It's not putting you in danger or interfering with your work or your schedule is it? Because, I could let you experiment some and come back."

Jorge sighed as he thought about it. He knew the woman was in no rush, or so she said, and he did not want to take up all her time. Then again, he needed to get a comfortable handle on this ability. Experimenting was always and option, so far things had been okay, he hadn’t shifting in awhile, but he really did not want to risk letting this ability go unchecked. It was too dangerous not only for him to do so, but to other who counted on him…

“I’ll be honest,” he said as he looked at her earnestly. “I cannot risk what happened to me the day I shifted, to happen while I’m working. If I’m chasing down a suspect, or trying to rush to someone’s aide, I can’t take the chance that suddenly I’m going to collapse into a puddle of water I can barely control.”

He sighed as he took a slightly more relaxed stance. He knew, he really did, that he was not going to suddenly gain control over these powers in a single day. It was going to take practice, back to square one, but still he would feel better if he at least had a slightly better understanding of it. If he could at least successfully shift once into his water form, and then back, without Gemma’s help, then at least that could be an experience he could hold onto. At least he would know that it was possible for him to do it himself and not have to worry about accidentally getting someone killed because he couldn’t shift back from a puddle on the ground.

The older man began to twitch a little, tapping each of his fingertips against his thumb in a thinking gesture. Risking his life to get a hold on his powers was insane…but he’d risk more lives if he returned to his job without gaining something over this new abiliy…

He locked eyes once more with Ghost, his face showing resolve. “If you don’t mind, I wouldn’t mind pushing on. I guess either making me angry or threatening my life will be trigger, but I need some type of handle on this ability. That way I won’t feel completely helpless…”