Chase was twitching and trembling from behind the shield of water. He was sitting here, watching, as the events transpired. He was inclined to run, yet he couldn’t. Jorge had told him to stay put, and he had to do what Jorge had told him to. But… Chase shuddered. That ape-man was scary, Chase didn’t want to be in the same room as him anymore. The man bared his fangs and bellowed at Jorge, but the detective didn’t yield. And, neither did the ape-man. The creature drew back, before bringing two fists down on Jorge.

“Jorge!” Chase shouted. The detective dodged, but a second pair of arms caught Jorge and lifted him off of the ground. Chase reached his arms out and pushed against the shield of water, testing to see if he could step through it, but he couldn’t. He was stuck watching as his mother’s boyfriend battled with a monster, “Jorge!”

Chase boxed the wall of water and pushed again, without avail. He gritted his teeth in frustration, fearful black eyes watching as the ape-man attempted to box Jorge’s head. Chase uttered an incoherent shout, but the cry was swallowed as the detective dissolved into water. Chase fell silent, uncertain of what to make of it. Where had the detective gone? The ape-man seemed to wonder this as well. He had to still be somewhere, because Chase was still trapped by the water surrounding him.

Suddenly, the water sprung forward like a snake uncoiling, latching onto the ape-man. Chase squinted through the eddies of the shield, brows furrowing in confusion. Another jet leapt forward, pummeling the ape-man in the face. Water surged up and took shape, taking on a humanoid outline.

“Whoa!” Chase gasped appreciatively as they continued to fight, exchanging blows. Finally, the ape man fell, leaving the elemental lingering victoriously over the fallen form. Chase gaped, eyes wide and amazed. Was that… no, that wasn’t Jorge, too, was it? The elemental ducked down, and other officers took charge. The ape-man was apprehended and hauled-off elsewhere, and as things simmered down, Jorge returned—human and outwardly unharmed.

The shield was lowered with a wave of the detective’s hand, and Chase eagerly unfolded himself, gaze looking at the spot where he’d just been crouched over, eyes wide, and silently mystified.

>> “Chase? Are you okay?”

Chase nodded quietly, feeling his chest as if to make sure that he was in-fact still standing there, and fully awake. Yup, still standing there. Chase tilted his gaze towards Jorge, donning a faint smile, and went to the officer’s side, giving him a hesitant hug.

“I’m fine,” Chase mumbled, pressing his face into Jorge’s side. Sure, it’d been scary, but now the detective was here and the ape man was somewhere else. Everything was better now. After a hug that was neither awkwardly abrupt nor uncomfortably prolonged, Chase released the detective, and his eyes seemed to illume with an excited orange as something dawned on him.

“Mama never told me that you’re a mutant!” he exclaimed excitedly, bouncing back to life, “You are a mutant, aren’t you?! Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

Chase stepped back, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was now wholly convinced that Gemma’s boyfriend was a superhero.

>> “I’m fine,”[/color]

Jorge breathed a sigh of relief. He really was glad that Chase was about. That had to be an absolute nightmare to have to go through. Chase had definitely been scared, that was evident in his eyes, and he looked as if he would collapse, but, he managed to find that inner strength to keep it together. Though Jorge could not blame him a single bit. After all, seeing everything that he saw just now, his mother boyfriend fighting with an extremely dangerous mutant and of course finding out that this same man was also a mutant, must have been a huge shock to him.

Jorge would give him time, of course. He needed it in order gather himself and make peace with everything that he had just witness. God, he hoped that Chase was not emotionally scarred or something from now on because ho his bringing him here. That was the last thing that he wanted to was to damage the boy.n

But as the detective thought this through, suddenly Chase crept closer and wrapped his arms around his waist, hugging him lightly on his side. Jorge looked down and smirked a bit, happily that Chase was okay and, that furthermore, he felt comfortable enough to do that. Jorge wrapped his arm around Chase, keeping his arm on his t-shit as to not affect the boy’s power. It was a surprisingly tender moment for the two. It seemed that maybe, just maybe, Gemma’s plan of getting them to bond had worked.

A quick pat on the back and Chase released him. Suddenly his eyes took on a far more excitable color and the detective had to smirk.

>> “Mama never told me that you’re a mutant! You are a mutant, aren’t you?! Why didn’t you ever tell me?”[/color]

The man chuckled. Chase definitely sounded excitable. He was handling it better than he thought he would; he hoped that it would last. But it was good to see that he was not still terrified and instead his attention seemed to shift on how the hell Jorge had done half the things that he had done, and especially, why he never told him he was a mutant.

“Yes, Chase, I am a mutant,” he confirmed with a nod of his head. “And, I dunno. I guess it just never came up?” he beamed innocently. Then he just sighed and shrugged with a chuckle. “I should have told you, and I apologize. To be honest though,” he leaned in to whisper. “My powers aren’t nearly as cool as yours.”

Things like this were easily gotten over, or at the very least, Chase’s attention was easily diverted elsewhere. Yes, ape-man had been scary, but he’d trusted Jorge to handle things—Jorge, and the other officers. Chase hadn’t gotten hurt, which meant that his trust hadn’t been misplaced, and now that the ape-man was gone. Chase could now, safely focus on other, more important things. Like grilling his mom’s boyfriend for details about his mutation. Chase had seen and been through too much in his young life to really dwell on small outbreaks of drama for too long.

Jorge returned the hug, and when the child stepped back, the grilling began. Chase’s spouted questions, and Jorge handled them tactfully.

>> “Yes, Chase, I am a mutant. And, I dunno. I guess it just never came up?”

“Never came up?” Chase echoed incredulously. How could you just never happen to mention an awesome power like that? The nine-year-old failed to grasp that. Jorge laughed and grinned, tossing a shrug. Chase stared up at him, brows stitched but wearing a smile in return.

>> “I should have told you, and I apologize. To be honest though, my powers aren’t nearly as cool as yours.”

“Are you kidding me?” Chase gasped, “I saw what you could do! You were like-” Chase mimicked Jorge’s gesture, pretending to raise a wall of water. He even included the sound effects for it, “-shoom, ka-chish. And then,” Chase threw a couple of punches, “-bam, bam! And then out of the blue-” before concluding with his interpretation of Jorge’s elemental form. He tensed his bony arms up so that the muscles were flexed, and raised his shoulders, trying to make himself look intimidating and tough, “Oooo-”

Yes, that was Chase’s rendition of what he’d just witnessed. An act only discernible by the most intelligent of adults, or those who were just as much a kid as he was—to show that he was done with the charade, Chase summarized, “That is a lot cooler than my power.”

Jorge was just like a superhero. Just like Christian, from Powers. He was so cool.

>> “Are you kidding me? I saw what you could do! You were like--shoom, ka-chish. And then--bam, bam! And then out of the blue--Oooo-”[/color]

Jorge chuckled as he watched Chase reenact what he saw in fight between himself and Fossey. It was not a cruel, mocking chuckle, but a light hearted one that was practically amazed by not only Chase’s narration but the skill at which he mimicked everything that had happened. The detective could only feel a little pleased at the retold story and the light at which Chase painted him. By the time the boy reached the end of his tale, Jorge nearly believed that he himself was really the superhero that Chase was apparently picturing him as.

In a way it really was both a proud and humbling moment. Jorge never saw himself as a hero. He was just a man who did his job and didn’t want anyone else to get hurt in the process. Jorge saw a man who was threatening not only his fellow officers, but someone he cared about. That was obviously not something that he could abide by.

He was touched, though, that Chase was so enamored with Jorge’s abilities. It was thanks like that that made him glad he was a cop and that he could rescue people should the need arise.

>> “That is a lot cooler than my power.”[/color]

He smirked still as he knelt down in front of Chase.

“Cool or not, I’m just glad I was able to help protect you. I don’t want anything happening to you, get me?” he smirked in a proud manner as he patted Chase’s shoulder. He was really liking this boy and they seemed to have more in common than he figured before. When he was certain Chase understood him, Jorge straightened up. “Come on, we’ll take the back way out so I can show you a little more for the precinct. Then we’ll go home. I’m sure your mom misses us by now.”

Chase mellowed-out as Jorge laughed at the display, smiling meekly at the detective, perhaps even a touch apologetically. He laughed, shrugging his shoulders and pocketing his hands. Yep, that was how he’d seen it.

Jorge knelt down, and Chase met Jorge’s gaze through his lashes, still smiling.

>> “Cool or not, I’m just glad I was able to help protect you. I don’t want anything happening to you, get me?”

Chase nodded his head to show that he understood what Jorge was saying.

“I got you,” Chase echoed, the phrase sounding weird in his mouth. Jorge patted his shoulder and stood up. Chase followed him with his gaze, rocking up onto his toes.

>> “Come on, we’ll take the back way out so I can show you a little more for the precinct. Then we’ll go home. I’m sure your mom misses us by now.”

“Okay,” Chase agreed, still all smiles.