It was just another day, at least that is what it was supposed to be. His first day off in ages and Jorge was standing at a local coffee shop. All he really wanted was to pick up some tea and danishes before he dashed off to spend the day with Gemma. It seemed as if the two of them could barely find a second or two to spend together. Both of them had been extremely busy with work and while they still managed to have a night or two to themselves, there was little other than that. His work was getting hectic and now that the new school semester was getting ready to start up, much of Gemma’s presence was going to be needed back at the mansion.

But today…today they would finally get at least a full day to themselves. At least that was supposed to be the plan if this damn line would start moving!!

Jorge sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest and rocked back and forth on his heels, staring at the line ahead of him. There were at least four other people ahead, but they were not his concern, it was the joker at the front of the line. Some young teenie bopper who had a ridiculously complicated order for the poor barista behind the counter. The young teen had rattled off a large coffee order but had the audacity to make the barista repeat it back to her to make sure that she got it right.

And when she didn’t, her loud and irritated voice pierced each of them.

“Whatdaya mean you don’t have soy? What is this place? Run by savages?!”

“Oh…my god…” Jorge muttered as he drowned out the rest of the argument and simply stood there.

Dressed in a simply pair of jeans and a tight, dark blue shirt the detective grumbled silently to himself as he attempted to entertain himself by looking around the establishment. It was nice, to say the lease. It had a very eclectic sense about it: none of the tables or chairs matched, the décor really had no common theme and yet it did, somehow everything just fit about this place. He liked it. He just wished the damn line would actually move. He wanted his tea and pastries and he wanted to be on his way to meet with Gemma. Was that so much to ask?

Rwwwwwowooooooaaaaaaaaarrrr!!!

Apparently it was.

The sudden howl send the detective stepping back as he looked ahead. Right behind counter the once chastised barista was twitching and foaming at the lips. The terrified and once argumentative customer had fallen back onto her butt and was scrambling, crying and screaming to back off away from the angered man. Jorge stepped to the side to allow the other customers that were ahead of him to staggered and dash away from the counter. The sight was amazing to behold.

See, normally when Jorge witnesses these types of cases, he’s walked in on something already in the happening. The perp has shifted and before he knew it, he was staring down at an angry, half-human/half-animal beast snarling and slashing at everything that moved. But now…he was actually witnessing the change happen.

The barista behind the counter had looked like a meek kid. A teenager, a boy, with scruffy black hair and thick glasses that looked as if he had a hard time seeing. But after apparently having enough to the other teen’s bickering about her coffee order, something snapped and he began to change. The scruffy hair on his head grew longer, shaggier, and they same began to happen all over his face actually. Mouth open and with teeth bared, the barista became more muscularly defined, as a thick fur began to grow out across his skin. Eventually his shirt split from his new, more massively sized form, and his newly clawed hands scratched the counter. He looked like a mix between a man and a Tibetan Mastiff. Terrifying to say the least.

Turning slowly, the barista grew a thick, wrinkly muzzle and his hidden dark eyes scanned the room. It was only as they locked onto the screamed woman below that his snarled. A long line of foamy drool fell from his growling lips as he turned and looked ready to pounce on the agitating woman.

So much for my day off, Jorge thought as he suddenly ran forward.

Cujo was in mid-air, pouncing directly for the customer when Jorge suddenly slipped his arms underneath her armpits and roughly pulled her away. The both of them went skidding across the linoelium tiled floor as the were-pooch slammed harshly into the ground. He howled and in his bloodied rage began to run around the coffee shop, tearing at anything that got in his path.

“Just…wanted a danish,” Jorge grumbled as he moved onto his feet. Damn him for leaving his gun locked up at home.

Being out in the city wasn't nearly as relaxing as it used to be. Now it was a maze and a minefield all rolled into one. Trying to get anywhere while running into as few people as possible was practically impossible and yet it was necessary for Drew's sanity. If he was in large crowds the chances of that feeling happening were infinitely more than if he stayed on backstreets and alleyways. So he avoided them as much as possible. Of course he could always stay at the mansion but it happened there too and he would be subject to curiosity, pity, and well meaning attempts to help. Drew didn't want to end up in the psych ward, even if he did perhaps need it.

All this brought into consideration meant that Drew was moody and nervous. It was difficult to be anything but depressed or scared. In the end Drew had eventually decided he needed coffee. He'd waited through a long line, gotten his standard black coffee, and sat down in an out of the way corner to, in essence, sulk and nurse the caffeinated beverage. About thirty minutes and half a cup of coffee later the coffee shop was treated to a very annoying teenager at the counter. She was one of those entitled brats it seemed that liked nothing better than to yell at anyone who would give them a reason.

Her diatribe didn't last long though. Moments later the poor barista that had been the target of her ire let out a howl worthy of any good werewolf movie and began to morph. The chaos began then. Drew sighed. There went his peace. He surged out of his seat, intent on saving the young woman from her somewhat deserved mauling. Not out of concern for the girl. No she wasn't of any consequence. Drew was worried for the mutant that had just transformed. If he succeeded in mauling or killing the girl then the cops would have little reason to hold back on putting him down like the dog he transformed into. However his action was preempted by a familiar face.

It had been a while since he'd seen Jorge. Here he was at a coffee shop saving lives but not in uniform. The man just didn't seem to have good luck with days off did he? Drew moved back and grabbed his half finished cup of coffee and popped the lid off. Then he walked toward the mutant, pausing to nod to Jorge with a slight smirk.

"Hello Officer Cervantes. Been a while hasn't it? Probably your day off right? Maybe you should stop taking days off. The city might be a bit less chaotic that way."

Then Drew proceeded within throwing range of the mad mutt and tossed his still warm coffee at him to get his attention.

"Hey Spot, wanna play?"

Jorge heard the crashing, the snarling, the growling and pushed himself onto his elbow. The cringing, snobby teen was holding onto him for dear life, soaking his shirt with her tears. Her arms were strong though, she simply refused to let go of him no matter how much he attempted to coax and soothe her. He hoped that this would be a lesson that she wouldn’t soon forget. But, as traumatic as the incident was, the girl really didn’t need to carry on as much as all this. He was fairly certain that his shirt was soaked by now.

He sighed as he attempted to pry her off. He needed to get to Cujo before the mutant actually killed anyone in his blind rage. But as he tried to dislodge the girl for a third time, a familiar face suddenly darted be him.

The tall, muscular frame, the heroic look in his eyes, the fact that he was throwing himself into the heat of danger with only a coffee cup (a paper one at that)…all of it added to being the identity of only one person…

“Andrew?”

>> "Hello Officer Cervantes. Been a while hasn't it? Probably your day off right? Maybe you should stop taking days off. The city might be a bit less chaotic that way."

Was the kid insane? He was running into a knife fight with a spork!

“Andrew! Don’t!” Jorge finally dislodged the sobbing teen, stood up and watched too late as the coffee cup went sailing.

The paper cup flew, only partially spilling a few drops of its black contents before it smashed against the hide of Cujo as he stood, glaring and snarling down at an older man. The coffee was not hot enough to burn but it was warm enough to really irritate the dogman into turning around to face his would be attacker. His black fur, now matted before of the wet contents that seeped into his coat, turned and immediately locked eyes with the wall Mid-West boy and the slightly shorter detective who stood none too far from him.

“Meat…Blood and…meat…!” he roared…

>> "Hey Spot, wanna play?"

Jorge flexed his limbs to loosen himself up a bit. Even though it was Andrew was there, and he looked a hell of a lot stronger (if not in need of a good nap), he still worried about the kid. It had been a long time since he had last seen him but apparently he still managed to always be around when there is trouble brewing. The detective’s face turned dead serious as he glanced off to the side at Andrew and looked ahead at the beast who nearly pawed at the ground.

“Andrew, you better back outta this one,” Jorge muttered as he reached out with his senses and immediately felt there to be a useable source of water nearby. “I don’t think this guy is going to stop for a dog biscuit.”

And of course, the detective was right. As the three stood off, two against one, a thin drop of coffee slowly, agonizingly slowly dripped down across his feral eyes. The movement immediately sent him on the attack, barreling directly for both Jorge and Andrew with only one thing on his mind…

Meat and blood…Meat and blood…

It didn't surprise Drew at all that Jorge sounded horrified at his actions. The Drew that Jorge had last seen been weak. Drew knew now that he always would be weak. However the point here was that he was not as weak as he had been. The coffee hit the mutant as he stood over an old man. It served its purpose in getting the boy's attention. Jorge meanwhile seemed to have rid himself of the crying cause of the catastrophe in an attempt to stop him. Judging by the mutant's words the canine part of him had completely taken over in the course of the boy's anger. Drew frowned. There would be no reasoning with this one then. Jorge tried to get him to back off. Drew just shook his head.

"Well then I suppose it's a good thing I wasn't planning on trying that." he shot Jorge a look just as serious as the one he'd given him, "I'm not backing off. You're on your own here and you're off duty. It'll take a while for back up to get here since you can't call."

Drew eyed the weredog.

"Besides, if we let him injure or kill someone then he'll probably end up dead."

Mere moments later the dogman sprang into motion and Drew moved to one side and then threw out a quick kick aimed at the boy's side. It wasn't his strongest but hopefully it would connect and send him off course from Jorge.

"You just work on your water. I'll keep him busy."

He followed up his kick with a hard punch. Sure the kid was angry and dangerous but he was hardly Sam or Mr. Muscles. Drew wasn't too concerned.

Andrew was not going to relent. And it was not out of sheer stubbornness or anything like that, he really was trying to help out. He really was looking out for this poor mutant that found himself angered into completely losing control of his abilities (whether he knew he had them or not). But Andrew really seemed to have compassion for this mutant. Jorge, for a moment, took a second to truly admire what the kid had turned out to be. He didn’t know what has happened in the boy’s life since they last saw each other but whatever it was, it seemed to have a fairly strong effect on him.

But as much as Jorge wanted to commend the kid for his show of bravado…that was going to have to wait. Before he knew it, he saw a flash of black and brown fur out of the corner of his eyes and suddenly Cujo was barreling directly for the both of them. To anyone it would be a terrifying sight. The detective had seen worse but that did not mean there was not a little voice in the back of his head telling him to run.

Yet, even as the detective positioned himself to take the full force of that hit, Andrew once more threw himself into the line of fire. Even as Jorge was about to protest, Andrew was already in movement, throwing his knee up and driving it into the side of that rabid weredog.

Jorge watched as the beast fumbled off to the side, wind knocked out and in slight shock and pain. The beast’s mind was focused now and having been taken off that focus by the pain from the knee strike, he looked just a little disoriented. Andrew apparently took this as his cue to jump further into the fray…

>> "You just work on your water. I'll keep him busy."

Jorge growled inwardly as he watched Andrew dash off. Maybe Cujo wouldn’t be the only one that he would put on a leash. If Andew kept acting like this he was going to get himself killed. But instead of running after him, tackling him down, and handcuffing him to a table, Jorge stayed back. As sure as he was that he could take Cujo on his own, he did need the time Andrew would provide as a distraction to summon the water.

“Viva con dios,” he muttered as he suddenly hand turned and reached out with his own palm. Thank god establishments such as this always required running water.

From the kitchen Jorge could feel that flow of his lifegiving ally. The sinks in the kitchen churned and groaned as water attempted to force itself out thanks to Jorge’s manipulations, nothing would stop them. It was only as he clenched his fist that the waters finally bursts from faucets within. He could hear the scuffle in front of him. He half turned his head to see that Andrew was indeed attempting to hold his own against that weredog.

Cujo snarled, snapped, and bit at Andrew every chance it got. The reasoning was gone and the only thing he wanted to was wrap his jaws around the kid’s ankle and rip the limb off. Jorge was not going to let that happen, though.

Hand shaking, Jorge finally turned as a bubbling, churning mass of water began to float around him like some mythical snake. The detective focused intently on the weredog and Andrew, looking for an opening, any opening so he could get that does attention. It was only when he saw it that he suddenly yelled out to the suddenly badass Andrew…

“Kid! Hit the deck!!” he screamed as he shot out both hands and sent a pillar of water directly into the face of that dog faced mutant. He only hoped it would slow him down enough to get more people out of harm’s way.

The muttered statement from Jorge went unnoticed as Andrew dove into the fray. It was him against weredog until Jorge could wrest the water from it's constraints. The mutant had been completely overtaken by the animal. Still, Drew wanted to try to get through to him. While Jorge concentrated and pulled Drew got in close, avoiding the gnashing teeth and flailing paws where and when he could.

"Come on kid, snap out of it. You keep this up someone's gonna get hurt and if that happens then the cops will hurt you. I know she was being an insensitive little prick but you have to get a hold of yourself."

His words were lost on the weredog. He was too far gone to really hear them. Drew expression shifted from serious to one of sympathy and understanding. Being lost under a mutation was no fun at all. If he could have afforded to Drew would have pulled his punches and kicks a bit. However the weredog was a tough beast and so he had to pull his full strength behind each strike to make them really count and keep the boy busy long enough for Jorge to ready his strike. When Jorge shouted Drew dropped to the ground.

A stream of water shot over over him. It was a good thing he'd gotten out of the way. That looked like Jorge was wielding a fire hose on the poor mutt. At least it wouldn't hurt him too much. Drew watched the watch strike the weredog dead on. He took the breather to glance around. There were a few stragglers still hanging around. Drew very nearly rolled his eyes at them. If they got hurt it was their fault for hanging around after things had gotten serious.

Thankfully the water went surging over Andrew’s head and struck the dog-boy dead center. Jorge was not looking to grieviously harm the innocent mutant, but he needed to him to calm down. There was little that Jorge could do other than drench the dog. He didn’t have his gun, which he wouldn’t have used anyway since the mutant had yet to really harm anyone, and he the water was plentiful in the kitchen at the back of the coffee shop. It should be enough to knock some serious sense back into Cujo, but Jorge was not fully sure. He could only pray that it could be enough.

With Andrew down, Jorge forced the pillar of water to push harder and harder into the weredog, keeping him pinned back against the wall and leaving him out of the path of danger. Jorge did not want any more people getting hurt but a glance to the side showed that indeed there were many people still in the coffee shop who were simply refusing to leave. On lookers…sickening…

As Jorge attempted to split his attention between the people gathered and his manipulations of the water, he suddenly screamed off to the side…

“All of you! Get the hell out of here right now! This is a police matter! If you don’t want your lives in danger, run out the back! Run now!!” He yelled.

He words appeared to have a sobering effect of such on the gathered populace. All of them seemed to snap out of their curious, terrified dazes and heeded Jorge’s words as the truth. It was important for a police officer to speak with some type of authority. That was why the gathering of people began to finally stir and run out of the coffee shop’s back entrance. But as the detective watched them, to make sure that they were all actually leaving, he felt a small shift in the water.

He snapped his head back just in time to see that Cujo was not entirely being held by the water anymore. In his distracted state, Jorge had accidentally eased up just enough to allow the weredog to break himself free. Quickly Jorge strengthened his hold and the water and began to reform it to lash out at Cujo, but his actions were too little, too late.

Charging directly for him, Jorge quickly dropped the water and pulled back his fist just as the enraged mutant slammed directly into his chest. Jorge gasped, all the air knocked out of his lungs, as he felt the heavy mutant press deep into his gut and the sensation of the cold floor on his back. A snarling then followed as he looked up just in time to see the mutant attempt to slam its jaws around his face in a kiss he had no intention of receiving.

Arms lashed out, Jorge placed one hand on the dog’s lower jaw and the other against his muzzle in an attempt to keep him from smacking his jaws tight.

“Oh, God,” Jorge growled as he struggled, trying to hold open Cujo’s mouth as well as gain some kind of upper hand. He hoped that Andrew was still okay. “Dammit! Get a breath mint, will ya?!” Jorge yelled as drool rolled down and slopped against his cheek.

The fire hose effect did it's job in holding the weredog off but the onlookers were still there. Drew was about to shout at them when Jorge diverted his attention from the weredog to do just that. Oh it had the desired effect. The onlookers started to leave as quickly as their feet would carry them. However, from his position Drew was able to see the moment when that change of attention cost Jorge his dominance in the fight. The pressure eased off and the weredog took advantage of it. Drew scrambled to his feet after being leaped over by the mutt in question just in time to see him collide with Jorge who hadn't been able to bring the water back to bear on him in time. Drew swore under his breath.

Jorge's comment about the breath mint had him chuckling in spite of the situation at hand. Where on earth were the rest of the bloody force when you needed them? There was nothing for it. Drew gathered himself up and threw himself in a tackle at the weredog. The mutant was far too close to snapping his jaws shut on Jorge. Drew landed solidly against the dog but didn't dislodge him. Unbalance him? Yes. Dislodge? Unfortunately not. Drew did not want to hurt the poor guy. Not by a long shot. However he was a tough pain in the neck in this form and this state of mind.

"Snap out of it kid! You don't want a death on your conscience, believe me!"

He knew that it was likely a wasted effort but Drew couldn't help it. He didn't want to give the humans a reason to try and put the kid down like the dog he had unfortunately transformed into.

"Jorge! I'll pull, you push as much as you can!"

Drew didn't really want to take say much more than that. With the dog focused mostly on Jorge, Drew had a chance to get closer than he normally would have. He tossed his arms around the weredog's midsection and yanked as hard as he could, away from Jorge.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr…!!

SNAP!!

SNAP!! SNAPPP!!![/b]

Jorge groaned and winced every time those jaws attempted to snap shut on his face. The weredog was adamant to kill him right then and there. It wanted to bite into his flesh, it wanted to rip it off of his bones. But the detective refused to panic. He needed to keep his focus, he had to keep his arms strong to fend off that snapping mouth he struggled to hold open but in doing so it distracted him from everything else. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t focus long enough to pull the water to him and he had no physical weapon to use.

“Argh! Dammit, Cujo!!” the detective snarled as he felt a heavy paw press down on his bicep in an attempt to keep him from fighting back much longer.

Jorge tilted his head to the side in an attempt to remove himself from another lunging snap of the jaws. His mind raced as he tried to figure some way out of this. He could always attempt to use his new found abilities but they were still so untested. He had trained with the X-Man Ghost on and off but other than that he had never wanted to test it while he was out on the job or in the general public at all. It took too much focus to transform and even then, he was not entirely sure just how effective it will be against a rampaging foe.

What good would turning into water do against the madden weredog except for treat everyone to the comforting scent of wet-dog?

But as the detective’s mind raced, the shouting voice of his young friend broke through the commotion…

>> "Jorge! I'll pull, you push as much as you can!"

“Huh?” Jorge muttered as he kept struggling with the massive mutant. But as he did so he noted that Andrew’s very human arms had wrapped around the beast’s mid-section. It was the best plan they had so far.

Still struggling, Jorge dodged another bite before he arched his back, reared back his head as far as he could and suddenly slammed it forward. His head forehead smacked into the muzzle of Cujo just as he was coming in for another bite. A loud CRUNCH was audible to their ears as Jorge’s forehead broke through cartilage, soft tissue, and finally snapped a front fang or two. A red hot, throbbing pain brought tears to both their eyes but as the weredog was caught off guard, Jorge shoved forward with all his might. That, added Andrew pulling back on the beast, suddenly dislodged Cujo from the partially dazed detective.

Jorge gasped as he took one second the breathe and then finally moved onto his knees to spy if Andrew and Cujo were okay…

“Oh my god…” was all he could mutter…

His idea worked but not exactly how he'd intended. Jorge headbutted the mutt right on the muzzle and Drew winced at the sound. The kid would have one heck of a broken nose when he changed back. However been that and Jorge's shove the weredog was removed from the somewhat dazed detective. Drew unfortunately went tumbling with the weredog as it was difficult to let go in time. On the bright side Drew could see a bit more reason in the eyes he was staring into. Maybe the pain had helped jostle the kid into taking control again. On the downside Drew was now sitting on top of a weredog that was struggling to gain control of his mutation.

The skin rippled now and then as the kid underwent another fight with himself. Drew meanwhile used his body to hold the kid down, just in case he lost and decided to go crazy again.

"Come on kid you got this. It's your power you control it, not the other way around."

It was a hair raising minute that passed as the kid kept fighting. However eventually Drew was no longer sitting on top of a huge furry death machine but a very embarrassed kid. He got up and helped the kid up too.

"Good job. Just promise me you'll stick to chasing cars next time."

He chuckled a little. The kid grinned sheepishly.

"Sure, I promise I'll chase down a big truck for you."

The feeling was back but Drew was not paying attention to that. He was paying attention the pattern of brown and black fangs making it's way across the kid's wrist. Drew looked down at his own wrist in amazement to see the same pattern sketching across Allison's designs. Before it was even halfway done though the pattern began to reverse and fade. Drew was more than a little shocked. He stood back, trying to figure out just what this meant.

The detective, at most, was surprised to see that Andrew was sitting on top of the weredog, but the most surprising part was how well the kid managed to keep him under wraps. Somewhere along the line, the kid had become a rather good fighter. It was obviously none of the training that he had been giving him, though there had been a few good moves he had taught him in there. Other than that, this was an entirely different Andrew. He held onto Cujo strong and yet he still tried to get through that rabid mind.

Jorge was immensely afraid for the boy and wanted to dash to help, but as he struggled onto his feet, he noticed that the weredog’s thrashing was lessen as each second passed. Whether Andrew’s words were getting through to him, or maybe that knock to the snout had unclouded his vision, or maybe it was a combination of the two, but Cujo was finally coming around.

Holding his sore ribs where a good bulk of the mutant had once rested himself, Jorge slowly walked over as he began to change before his eyes. Fur slinked back and moved under the skin, the broken snout slowly reverted into a regular human nose and mouth and even the insane look in his eyes was slowly being replaced by calm and serenity.

Also, seeing as the boy that ripped off most of his clothes while he was shifted, Jorge moved over to the counter and snatched a fallen barista apron that had escaped the attack and carried it over. Holding it loose in his hand, he sighed a bit in relief as he walked over.

“You! Cop!” a voice suddenly called. He turned to spy that same woman who had caused this whole mess by being a brat charge up to him. “I want him arrested! He nearly killed me!”

Jorge sighed and rolled his eyes as he moved past her.

“I said do something or I’m going to tell my D-“

“Shut…UP,” Jorge responded as he turned his attention squarely on her, causing her to shrink back a little. “You will have your turn to talk, but for now, you take your little spoiled-high-voice butt outside! I will take your statement when I’m damn good and ready. Now MOVE.”

Shocked that someone spoke to her like that, the “princess” sniffled as she backed away slowly before scampering off to leave through the establishment’s front doors. It was only when she was gone that Jorge took his eyes off of her and returned to walking towards Andrew and Cujo.

>> "Sure, I promise I'll chase down a big truck for you."

Jorge grinned a little as he walked up to them and handed out the apron for Cujo. “Here, you better put this on before I have to bust you for indecent exposure.” He chuckled slightly as he glanced to the side and spotted the confused expression on Andrew’s face. “Kid? You alright?”

Drew overheard Jorge's shouting at the spoiled little girl that had caused all the mess. It did him good to hear it. If she'd gone without reprimand he might have had to do something about it. However Jorge was a good guy and could quite clearly see who was at fault here. Beyond that however he was very confused at what had happened. The feeling he hadn't expected that time since there weren't that many people around this time. However the new version of the promise tattoo was what really got him. It had appeared on the boy's wrist too.

He paid little attention as the boy hastened to put on the apron that Jorge provided, though he did chuckle a bit at Jorge's joke. He glanced up from his wrist where the pattern was still fading at Jorge's concerned inquiry.

"Yeah I'm fine...it's just..." Drew held up the wrist so that the quickly vanishing pattern was visible to Jorge against the vines, "It's never done that before. And the kid had one too..."

Could it be possible that all this confusion and worry was due to his power changing? It didn't seem all that likely to Drew. Why would his power, a power that was probably one of the worst powers ever, do anything that could be construed as a benefit for him? Since the tattoos only appeared when a promise was made and he hadn't said anything Drew could only assume that the feeling that he'd been stuck with all week and the new pattern just now were because the boy had made a promise to him. That opened up a whole new can of worms if it was what was happening.

Cujo seemed okay now, though he was practically swallowing a bottle of water whole. The poor kid had had a tough morning and though he went crazed and lost control of his powers, he was not to blame, in Jorge’s eyes anyways. He was just a kid who lost control, who hasn’t? But he was not so sure that the owners of this establishment would see it in the same way. After all, this was their establishment that was destroyed and they were the ones who had unknowingly hired a mutant. He could already see them firing the kid for this issue. Jorge wished him the best though. At least no one was hurt.

But as he turned from him and spied Andrew, Jorge could not shake the look from the boy’s eyes. He looked so confused as if he just found out something about himself he never thought was true. That was what concerned Jorge, especially since he considered this kid his friend.

>> "Yeah I'm fine...it's just…”

Jorge eyed the tattoo on the kid’s wrist. It look familiar…yet totally different…

>> “…It's never done that before. And the kid had one too..."

“Huh,” Jorge said as he turned to look back at the dogboy. The mutant as still drinking water but on his wrist the detective could clearly see the fading lines of a tattoo that had been there, exactly the same as Andrew’s. That…was very weird.

Turning back to Andrew, Jorge could only watch as that tattoo on his wrist disappeared and he began to feel just as confused. What was all that about? Was the kid’s abilities changing as well? Or was it just some weird coincidence? The questions were numerous but Jorge could not answer any of them. All he knew was that this kid looked really spooked and, in a way, it reminded him of how he felt when his own powers began to change.

Were his growing?

Jorge sighed as he clapped the boy on the shoulder comfortingly. “I think you need to talk to DocProf, like, now. If your powers are acting funky, he should be able to know. Have you experienced this before?”

Jorge seemed as stumped as Drew was. His huh said that clearly enough. Drew watched the last of the tattoo disappear before looking back to Jorge as the older man clapped him on the shoulder and told him to go see DocProf. As if that would happen. Talking to DocProf would just lead to lectures and arguments. As if he wanted to explain to the man again that he didn't need to tell anyone about it and that it was handled. Drew just nodded.

"This is the first time it's done precisely that but it's been weird all week."

Drew thought back to each instance of the feeling. He couldn't say about the ones that happened in large crowds but he was pretty sure he'd heard the words I promise each time it happened.

"I think it might be changing. Maybe to take promises from other people."

The place around them was a mess and the rest of the boys in blue were finally arriving. Drew didn't see any more need to stay.

"I should get out of your way so you can do your thing. You know where to find me if you need my statement Jorge."

Drew gave a wave to the barista and to Jorge and shot a glare at the girl that had started all of this mess before heading out the front with much more bounce in his step than when he'd first come in.