Is That A Mirror In Your Pocket (JJ)

[Sorcha Adams]

Afternoon had rolled around and Sorcha had not yet gotten a chance to take her daily siesta. She'd been out on the school grounds looking for a quiet place to settle down for a few hours in the surprisingly warm weather when a call for the school's security had gone out and effectively ruined her plans. This did not make for a very happy feline.

It seemed that several of the Academy's students had taken a trip into town and had begun causing problems for the locals around the shops. Security had therefore been called upon to retrieve said students before they caused too much trouble and the local police were contacted instead. The last thing Sorcha wanted to do was get forced into taking a trip to the police station to bail a bunch of kids out of jail. Having to head into town and collect all of them was bad enough.

Abandoning her search for a nice area to nap, she returned to her room to grab a few things, mumbling and grumbling the entire way. She opted out of wearing a uniform of any kind. It would likely be easier to round the kids up if they had a harder time seeing her coming. She'd also like to avoid drawing too much attention to herself while she was making her way through the town looking for them.

The weather having reached the low 60s was enough for her to dig out a pair of shorts and a tank top from her closet. Her temperature had always tended to run a little high since her mutation had manifested and after the winter cold the current temperature felt practically summery. A pair of mirrored sunglasses to conceal her eyes completed her ensemble.

She borrowed a car from the school and parked it on the outskirts of the town. She had a general idea of where the kids had been since she'd first been contacted, however it was likely that they'd wandered somewhere else by the time she'd gotten into town so she'd have to spend some time roaming around in order to locate them. This was not going to be a fun day.

[JJ Johnson]

JJ's partner had actually been the one to call it in. He was off in the car, doing the official crap while JJ had to stand near the students. He'd already glowered at them once and was seriously considering beating the crap out of one just to make his point. Maybe the skittish, ugly looking one with the big glasses. He looked like a bleeder. Probably the guy who'd thought it would've been fun to do what they'd done.

Which, actually, JJ had to agree with. When he'd been there age, he'd actually done far worse than these kids had. They were just pissing around and generally having fun. Not like it wasn't the freakin' outlet mall, sanctuary of soccer moms and other annoying people. Hmm, soccer moms; it had been a while since JJ had banged a MILF. He'd have to remember to do that later. Probably when he wasn't in uniform, though the blue did have a tendency to make the panties drop, especially the panties of a fine, mature woman.

JJ's partner had said that the Academy was sending one of their security team to come pick up the kids. JJ had put them into a "cell," meaning the security office of the mall, and then stood outside, waiting for whatever asshole they sent to come and pick them up. JJ was betting that he'd have to deal with Viktor, who was one of the few people that JJ didn't want to mess with. Giant crocodiles were bad news, man, and Viktor was some scary shit. It was then that JJ had gotten the call from his partner that the Academy official had arrived. JJ responded by saying that he'd go and find him, to which his partner had corrected, saying it was "a her, and she's in shorts and--"

and he'd needed to say no more. JJ was out, almost instantly recognizing the hottie that he'd seen picking up kids several times. He grinned and put his hands on his heavy belt, practically leering at her. "Afternoon, ma'am, nice day we're having, huh?" he said, putting on the pretense of civility. JJ was better when he wore the uniform, if only marginally so.

[Sorcha Adams]

Apparently it wasn't necessary for Sorcha to do a whole lot of running around to find the students she'd been contacted to collect. She'd barely gotten into the part of town where the outlet mall was located when she was accosted by a young man in uniform. At least, she though it was a uniform. He had the gun belt and the appropriate patches sewn onto it, but it almost looked like the guy wearing it had needed to borrow a smaller man's uniform for one reason or another. It was far too tight in far too many places, though at the same time he seemed to have taken care to make sure it wasn't tight enough to cause problems with the higher-ups. At least, she assumed that's the sort of thing that higher-ups would get upset about. She wasn't a cop, so she could only speculate.

She eyed him sceptically as he addressed her, making it necessary for her to stop even if only briefly. She couldn't say she was particularly impressed with his appearance or his greeting, though hopefully her sunglasses hid most of her expression while they mirrored his right back at him. She didn't particularly want to talk to him. Something about the guy was very off-putting, but all the same he was part of the local police and taking a minute to chat with him might make her errand easier and allow her to return to the school that much faster.

"Good afternoon," she greeted though she didn't offer her hand to shake, instead crossing her arms and quickly scanning the area on the off chance that she caught sight of one of the  troublemakers. "I don't suppose you know anything about some kids causing trouble around here? Bellefonte sent me to come pick them up and I'd rather not have to chase them all over creation to do it."

[JJ Johnson]

Yeah, this was definitely the girl. Not only did JJ recognize her from appearance, but she had the attitude to match. All too often the various people from the Academy thought they were hot shit, coming down here like the Bellefontes owned more than the impressive school. JJ hadn't exactly imprisoned any of them before, not that he hadn't wanted to. The school's officials were rather good about skirting offenses, not to mention having legitimate protections.

"Yeah, we got a few of the snot nosed little punks back there," said JJ, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "Me and my partner rounded 'em up for ya. They've been cooling their heels for a while now," JJ ran his eyes over the other woman, noticing the legs, oh, he definitely noticed the legs. He wanted to ask the woman to turn around so he could really get a good look, but he was definitely admiring the view from here. His lips twisted a bit into something resembling a leer.

"They've been real little punks," he said, not raising his eyes from Sorcha's legs. "I'm thinking they should be thrown into a cell for a night, let 'em stew for a bit. Hey," he looked back up, meeting Sorcha's sunglasses for a change, "we could find something to do, let the kids squirm, get to know each other better," he licked his lips, "you know, improve Academy/police relations," oh, he definitely wouldn't mind improving some relations there. He was trying to think of a good line to use, but it was probably going to take a bit.

[Sorcha Adams]

Realizations were starting to sink in the longer the officer talked. She'd never met the guy and held a conversation with him before, but she'd seen him prowling around the town every now and again and she'd heard a handful of complaints over a period of time about his behavior, either from people at the school or tipsy strangers talking too loudly at a bar. At least, she was pretty sure this was the guy she was thinking of. The way his eyes kept sliding up and down her body definitely made him seem like the culprit.

She didn't particularly care for the names his was slinging around while talking about the students, but she let it slide for the time being. She was sure they were just making pests of themselves and not actually doing any harm like any group of unsupervised teenagers, but starting an argument so early in the conversation probably wasn't the best idea. She could try to at least wait until she had the students in her possession before she stopped biting her tongue. Something told her this guy was bad news and arguing was only going to make it worse.

A sneer managed to find its way into her expression despite her efforts to remain neutral as the cop's gaze seemed to stick anywhere but her face. However, she wasn't going to start squirming under his leering just yet. She was a big girl. She could handle a creep every now and again. Hell, if she managed to behave herself she could even make a call to the station later on and leave some anonymous tips about his conduct while uniform. The longer she stood there with him looking at her the slimier she felt, though, so behaving herself might be a bit of a challenge.

"If they did anything illegal I'd think they'd already be in a cell, wouldn't they?" she began, fighting back the urge to make the array of disgusted faces that she really wanted to when the offer to 'get to know each other better' was put out there. And did he really just lick his lips? Good god how repellent could one person get? "But somehow I don't think they were misbehaving that badly. I think letting the administration office at the school decide on their punishment, if any, if good enough. They're just doing what teenagers do," she continued, starting to wonder exactly how far the office he indicated was from where she was standing and how easily she could get around the crude young man.

"The office is this way right?" she said, uncrossing her arms and moving to walk around the officer in order to head in the direction he'd indicated. It couldn't have been too far since he's pointed over his shoulder, rather the gesturing elsewhere. "Thanks for keeping 'em put. I'll just go and grab 'em and we'll head back up to the school. Then you'll have all the time you need to find someone you can, uh, 'improve relations' with for the rest of the day."

[JJ Johnson]

Lots of people left anonymous and not so anonymous tips about Officer Johnson. Some of them, in point of fact, referenced JJ's oh so clever use of that label in his ever so subtle attempts at wooing someone. Those tips and complaints were, in point of fact, what kept JJ from rising any higher in the ranks. Despite all appearances to the contrary, he did his job with an almost cruel efficiency, demonstrating a unique ability to twist the law to his own devices. It was literally the only time when someone got an inkling of intelligence behind the idiot with the mohawk.

As Sorcha spoke, that sort of mean sharpness showed in JJ's eyes. He didn't like being told that how to do his job, especially by some shithead from the Academy. Mentioning the actual truth: that the school should be handling this instead of the police, especially given the rather light situation, only further fueled JJ's smoldering anger. If anything, hearing some of the same logic he'd already come to only angered him all the more.

She was moving around him, obviously intent on doing her job and getting away. JJ was definitely not having that, not when he had her alone (well, more or less; his partner was delayed and distracted, and the kids were still in an office). "Actually, we can detain someone under suspicion for up to twenty-four hours," said JJ, sounding incredibly smug. "We do that sometimes with students," he said it like it was a swear word, "from Bellefonte," he dragged it out as though it were dirty. "Especially if we suspect that they were using their mutant abilities in public. Ain't a law yet," the way he said it made it clear that he suspected it soon would be, "but we want to keep it all hush-hush, don't we? I'm thinking that it might be in the interest of the community if we detain these particular suspects for at least," he ran his eyes over Sorcha, lingering once more on certain portions of anatomy that were required to be covered in public, "three hours, I'm thinking. Maybe overnight, if things are looking..." he looked up, moving to at least look at Sorcha's face, if nothing else, "bad."

[Sorcha Adams]

Sorcha had barely managed to take two steps when she was stopped again by the officer. She was starting to get a sinking feeling that she wouldn't be allowed to simply grab the kids and go if this young man had anything to do with it. He seemed like the sort of guy that shouldn't be trusted with any kind of power. The kind that would whip out his proverbial dick every chance he got and throw his weight around to twist situations in his favor. She had not been prepared to deal with this.

Detainment under suspicion wasn't something she'd ever heard of so she couldn't say for sure if the officer was telling her the truth or if he was making it up as he went in order to force her to give up her errand for the time being. She could try calling the school but she had a feeling that as soon as she pulled out her phone he'd be making a call or two of his own. He'd already mentioned his partner once and she didn't really want to have to deal with two shitheads at the same time if he called for backup or something. She really hoped that if the other cop stepped in he'd be the kind of cop that kept his partner in check, rather than encouraging him but she wasn't in any hurry to find out just yet.

The way he was talking about the school put a bad taste in her mouth. She could only imagine what his opinion of her was knowing that she worked for the Academy. As it was she had a pretty good idea about what kind of thoughts were buzzing around his head with the way he kept dragging his eyes everywhere but her face when he spoke to her. She fought back the urge to cross her arms or take a step away from him as his gaze lingered too long in several key areas of her person. She'd always worn at little clothing as she could get away with out of her respect for the need for some level of modesty around hormonal teenagers warring with her personal views on the matter. Normally she could have cared less about covering her body. Spending years shredding your outfits during shifts tended to alter a person's mindset about modesty. However, with this slimeball eying her up and down she was feeling inadequately dressed for the first time in a long time. It was amazing how some men weren't at all put off by their own reflection leering back at them.

"I haven't heard any complaints about the kids being more than an annoyance," she responded, keeping her chin up and her voice strong. She wasn't going to let this jerk push her around so easily. "And if there was a problem with anyone flaunting their powers I think the school would have done more than send one security officer out to collect them, don't you think? If there's really a serious problem here I'd suggest you call the school and have someone in administration handle it. They do this sort of thing all the time after all, don't they? Besides, holding them isn't going to do anything for you. Just a bunch of paperwork and hassle. I'm sure you could be spending your time more wisely."

She smiled pleasantly, a gesture that was much more of a struggle than it should have been, and moved again to step around him. She was halfway hoping she'd run across the guy's partner before she found the office, hoping that she'd be able to get a decent conversation out of him and maybe a little assistance with his slimy coworker. If she had to call the school for help she would, but she'd much rather be able to handle the situation by herself. She was a big girl and she didn't want anyone there thinking she couldn't take care of something as simple as running an errand to pick up a few kids. He was just one guy, after all. She could handle one person.

[JJ Johnson]

Oooh, she fought back. That just made JJ leer all the more. Always such much fun when they had a little spunk, got all mouthy and shit. He could've done without the logic and the references to the school though. JJ actually did know exactly how the Academy handled situations like this. The kids hadn't really done anything that he could do more than "hold them under suspicion" for, and if one of them had some pull or prestige, he could even get in trouble for that. If they had, Bellefonte would certainly have sent more than one leggy, sexy security officer.

She moved to step around though, and JJ was definitely not having that. However, instead of moving this time, he tapping his belt. "Well, sounds like someone's not being very cooperative with local law enforcement. Don't they train you wannabe types to work with local law enforcement? I mean," he tapped his belt, making sure to tap against his obviously holstered side-arm, "I am the officer in charge here, and you don't seem to really be cooperating with me, which is such a damn shame."

He ended by clucking his tongue against his teeth. Truthfully, JJ was sincerely hoping that she didn't wander too far away. If his partner got in the way, this whole thing would come tumbling down. Wouldn't be the first time that little shit acted the cockblock to JJ. JJ might nearly have sex appeal as a superpower, but he couldn't work with that cheery little guy in his freakin' way.

[Sorcha Adams]

The officer didn't move to get in her way this time. For a second she thought she'd finally reasoned her way out of the situation and he was going to let her pass, rather than standing around arguing all day. All that trouble over a couple of kids messing around by the shops. The guy obviously knew that they were mutants and was using it to his advantage. She was almost tempted to call him out on a hate crime of some sort, but at the same time she knew it wouldn't hold up very well while their existence was still a secret to the general public. She'd just have to deal with the idiots like the cop that cropped up every now and again and wriggle her way out of trouble one way or another.

The distinct sound of flesh striking leather caught her attention just strongly enough to make her turn her head to try and locate the source of the sound as she passed. Sorcha slowed to a halt once she realized that the young man had raised his hand to his belt and was tapping ominously at the holster of his gun. Her forced smile quickly faded. She was glad she had on a pair of sunglasses because she was sure her eyes had widened with the realization. The asshole was threatening her. With his firearm no less. This wasn't something she could have anticipated in her wildest dreams.

"I am cooperating. I was told to pick up the kids so I'm here to pick up the kids," she replied, fighting to keep the waver out of her voice while her gaze remained firmly attached to the hand resting on the holstered pistol, though her head was tilted up to hopefully make it look like she wasn't staring. "From where I'm standing it's you that isn't cooperating. You're doing everything you can to get in my way and keep me from doing my job."

Getting into a fight probably wasn't the smartest idea. However, they were still in a relatively public place. She could easily take off and flag someone down if she really needed to. Not to mention the guy's partner who would hopefully not agree to the officer pulling his gun on someone unprovoked. She obviously wasn't armed, nor was she making any kind of scene.

"And I would appreciate it if you didn't threaten me. I don't know everything about law enforcement, but I've picked up some useful buzzwords to use if I have to. You know, police brutality, unlawful force, assault with a deadly weapon, that sort of thing," she continued, forcing herself to look away from the firearm and back to the cop's face. Her hands balled into fists to keep them from shaking as she spoke. She wasn't going to be bullied so easily and if push really came to shove she had her own personal ways of protecting herself. She really hoped it wouldn't come to that, though, just like she really hoped the phrases she was spitting out would get some kind of favorable reaction. Daytime television detective shows had to be useful for something.

[JJ Johnson]

Of course JJ wasn't cooperating; he knew that full well. Didn't mean he liked to hear it, especially not from her. It sounded like a challenge to his authority, which only served to rankle him further. Strangely, that wasn't bothering him though; he wanted her to rankle him. If his adrenaline kicked in, he could wipe the floor with her before she would even realize what hit him. There was a slight chance that she had some kind of special ability of some sort too, but JJ was willing to take that chance. The adrenaline would usually carry him through.

The problem now was that he needed a reason to fight her. He couldn't just outright attack her, not while wearing the uniform; even he knew that. She was even calling him out on his posturing, pointing out that he was threatening her. He recognized most of those words too, and he frowned as she threw them back at him. Usually his targets weren't savvy enough to actually fire back with the same terminology; they usually just rolled over, acknowledging his position and crap. Then again, they usually weren't security officers with backbones of steel either.

"You know," he said, the anger coming into each word. He looked pissed too, and given his size, it looked dangerous. He lifted a finger, pointing it at her, "You are so right. I should be cooperative, right? Oh, wait, the kids are still in police custody, so you know what, I'm thinking that we'll just lock them up overnight," yes, he was back on this. Clearly he couldn't threaten Sorcha, but he did have a room filled with kids. Sure, he couldn't actually do anything he was threatening, since he'd have to get that through his partner, but surely Sorcha didn't know that.

"So if you'll excuse me, I'm thinking that at least one of them is about to resist arrest," he said, brushing past Sorcha on his way to where he stored the kids. If nothing else, he could rough one or two up; that would make him feel better. He could get away with it too; there was at least one guy he could antagonize into attacking first, that was for sure.

[Sorcha Adams]

Sorcha's head bobbed back as the officer brought his hand up and jabbed a finger in her face. She'd very obviously made him angry but at this point she was starting to lose any of the concern she'd held over it. She didn't like being threatened by muscleheads trying to push her around and she wasn't about to take it lying down. She had the Academy office on speed dial in her phone just in case anything happened while she was working a shift at the school and she was rapidly losing her hesitation to give them a call.

And there he went threatening the kids again, saying he'd throw them in jail overnight for absolutely nothing. Her jaw set as she recovered from the small shock of the finger in her face, her temper beginning to rise as well. He was abusing his power, she was sure of it. She was also sure he knew it and was doing on purpose, though for what reason she couldn't fathom. "You leave those kids alone," she warned in a low voice, her fists balling up even tighter as they began to shake out of anger instead of nerves.

She didn't let him get more than a few steps past her before she put herself back in front of him. There was absolutely no way she was going to let him get his hands on any of those kids as long as she had any say in the matter. She'd get herself tossed in jail for the night before she let anyone stick any of the kids there. She was a big girl, she could handle it better than a couple of teenagers could.

"You leave those kids alone," she repeated, louder this time. She brought her own finger up and jabbed it at his chest, though she was mindful enough to make sure she didn't actually touch him. As long as she didn't put her hands on him she didn't think he could do anything to her. "You touch any one of those kids and I'll put a call in to the school and the police department so fast your empty head will spin."

[JJ Johnson]

The low, threatening voice didn't do much for JJ. At most, it worked to get his anger ratcheted up another few degrees. He'd dealt with threats before, threats a lot scarier than what he was betting this woman could manage. She probably had some kind of special ability to make her a security officer; JJ knew that Bellefonte wasn't going to assign someone this unimposing without her having claws of some sort. She probably shot lightning or... no, this bitch, this cold bitch totally had ice powers. Yeah, that had to be it.

And ice bitch came in front of him, which made JJ snort, half amused, half angered yet again. She repeated the words again, and he just raised his eyebrows. Did she think that repeating them made them any more true or whatever? "Yeah, because I'm just betting that they're going to take your call and send someone right over here, right? Definitely before I get to any of the kids in there," he said, jerking his chin toward it. "As for the department," JJ grinned at this, "it'll be your word against mine, babe, and who do you think they're gonna believe?" Her, obviously and totally her, because this would be about the ninth or tenth infraction JJ had gotten in the past few months. They almost never believed him anymore; hence why he was still on beat patrol despite having the best arrest record in the department.

"So if you'll excuse me, I have some resistant perps to deal with," he said, taking a step toward them, "unless you're planning on helping me change my mind?"

[Sorcha Adams]

"They'll send someone if I tell them to," Sorcha stated mater-of-factly in reply to his snide comment. As for getting someone into town before the officer could get a hold on one of the kids, that was less likely. She could get someone out there, but she wasn't a teleporter. There'd be a wait for help no matter what she did. But she'd be damned if she just sat back and let the guy go after any of the kids, wait or not.

Calling the police was trickier. She didn't know what kind of reputation the guy had around the station, though judging by how he was handling the current situation it probably wasn't very good. She could only hope he wasn't one of the bad cops that was good at hiding it. However, even if she couldn't get any more officers down to the security office she'd still have the school to fall back on. One out of two was better than nothing. Besides, if it came to blows she knew it would get messy and some bystander was bound to call the cops. If they got enough of their phones ringing they'd have to show up, even if it was under the assumption that they'd be arresting her and not reigning in one of their own.

She refused to move back and give him any ground as he stepped forward, though she did lower her hand to avoid letting him walk into her pointing finger. She balled her hand back into a fist at her side, the nails she kept filed to points slowly digging into her palms as her hands tightened. There was no way she was going to be playing into his slimy games while he stood there and tried to corner her into some kind of ultimatum. She'd persuade him alright, but almost certainly not in any way he was hoping for.

"You'll have to go through me before I let you touch a single one of those kids," Sorcha defiantly declared, silently preparing herself in case a fight actually did break out. He was in for a real surprise if he thought he could use his current size advantage to overpower her. Shifting in the outlets wouldn't be a very good idea, but if the alternative was letting the guy assault any of the students then she was prepared to deal with the consequences. "I suggest you give it some real thought. Underestimating me would be a mistake."

[JJ Johnson]

They really would call other people to come help. JJ knew that with a cold certainty, cold enough to even chill some of JJ's anger. If he did too much, then she'd just call someone, and despite JJ's bragging, he didn't think he could take that many. Hell, he wasn't even positive that he could take Sorcha, if it came to it. He wanted to; that part hadn't gone down in the slightest, and he could practically feel the adrenaline pumping through him already.

The woman didn't move, which impressed the hell out of JJ. It definitely pissed him off. His entire body tensed, the muscles trembling. Veins were likely to start popping out at any moment now, and when he shifted, it looked almost like he was fighting against keeping them in. He got close enough that his chest nearly pressed against Sorcha's.  He leered down at her, taking advantage of his position to once again ogle her. His lips parted to let loose with some comment that likely would get him racked very soon...

.. and his radio crackled. The voice on the other end was male, a little high-pitched, and sounded almost high strung. JJ growled in frustration, moving to press talk on the talkie and growl into it. He moved away, and mumbled something about "bitch from the Academy" and "what do you mean you already filled out the paperwork?" Eventually JJ hissed an "over" through his teeth and turned to Sorcha again. "My partner," he spat it like it was a curse, "says he finished filling out the paperwork to turn the kids over to you," the grinding of JJ's teeth had to be loud enough to be heard. "So we'll have to go get them and hand them over," he moved to brush past her, as if this was what he'd planned to do and he wasn't being completely undermined or anything.

[Sorcha Adams]

Sorcha could see the officer's muscles straining, his posture seeming to become taught like he was physically fighting to keep himself in place. She could feel the tension building in the air, that spike of nervous, aggressive energy that usually preceded a fight. Her nerves were starting to buzz and she could feel the start of an adrenaline rush gearing up. She'd fight if she had to. She just hoped the Academy wouldn't come down on her too hard if she was cornered into shifting to give herself a fighting chance.

She allowed the larger man to step forward again, holding her ground while her own muscles tightened. She tried to shift her fingers subtly, the nails biting into her palms starting to make the skin sting. He was both taller and wider than her and would have cut an intimidating figure if she wasn't so stuck on not getting shoved around. It was becoming a conscious fight to keep her abilities in check. The building stress and the looming threat was ruffling all of her fight or flight instincts and her predatory side didn't appreciate being pushed around and treated like prey. The urge to show him who was literally the bigger mutant was becoming more insistent, but she was making a valiant effort to keep it in check.

The crackle of the radio startled her and she just barely managed to prevent herself from jumping at the sound. Her gaze flickered between the hand moving to retrieve the device and his face before he backed off to answer the call. The brief allowance of space gave her a moment to breathe and try to calm her nerves. If someone was getting in contact with him, then he couldn't ignore them or else they might come looking for him and bodily throw a wrench into his plans.

When he turned around again, anger and frustration written all over his face she simple leaned back on her heels and gave a satisfied smirk. Apparently his partner had half a brain and was playing by the rules. It also seemed that the officer in front of her had to yield because of it.

She let him brush past her this time and moved to follow not far behind him. If his partner was filling out paperwork then that meant he must have been fairly close to the kids and could jump in if the overly aggressive cop decided to act on any of his threats. It looked like she had won this round and the realization was quickly easing her mind and putting her in better spirits. "See, that wasn't so hard was it? Once I have the kids we'll be happy to get out of your little remaining hair and you'll be free to focus on your anger management issues without any more distractions."