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Chapter Text

[Breaking News]

This is Christiane Amanpour, reporting live from the Waikiki Aquarium at the University of Hawai’i, where researchers are saying that they have a mermaid in captivity. We will be bringing you the press conference from the director of the Aquarium when it happens. They will be allowing the press to enter the exhibit to get video afterwards and will be releasing results of a multitude of tests to, in their words, “prove that this is not a hoax”.

It looks like the Director is coming to the podium.

“Hello. Today is an exceptional day for oceanographers, biologists, marine scientists, and everyone else who has ever dreamed of fantastical creatures living here on Earth. Three weeks ago, a trawler was hauling in their nets when they pulled up what appeared to be a young mermaid. Her tail was injured by the nets and she was unconscious. The fishermen had no idea how long she had been caught by their nets, and no idea how to help her. They brought her here, in the hopes that our University resources would be able to be of some assistance.”

“I am happy to report that she is fully healed. In the time that we have had her, we have taken genetic samples, run a variety of blood tests, taken X-rays, CT images, and MRIs. We are only beginning to understand the complex physiology that she represents. We have been using satellite images to attempt to track the location of her family. If she was human, we would assume her age to be between 11 and 13, clearly too young to be separated from her parents. Until we locate them, she will be residing here for the foreseeable future.

“I will be happy to answer questions after you have seen her and have the data in your hands.” The Director looked around at his audience, smile wide and beaming. “For now, let me introduce you to our newest resident.”

Since the public exposure of merpeople, Zac had spent every moment on tenterhooks waiting for the other shoe to fall. He couldn’t even relax in the water. Every time he entered or exited the ocean was fraught with danger as land people paid close attention to the shoreline hoping to catch a glimpse of tail fin.

The pod was on high alert. Hatchlings were kept well away from open water. Zac was under strict instructions to pretend everything was normal and to continue his life as a land boy. He was their only remaining reliable link to land people news and the only one who could still mostly blend in with them. Because of his high risk of exposure, he was only to approach the pod under the most dire of situations or to provide an update on how close the land people were to locating the Mako Pod. He was relegated to nighttime swims to prevent curious land people from spotting him and to provide him cover if he needed to report to the pod.

A week of anxiety inducing stress, close calls, and progressively more concerning news reports had Zac close to the breaking point.

Zac paced around the sitting area of his bungalow. His fingernails were chewed down to the point where he was pulling skin off the sides with every nervous bite. The most recent news update had his stomach tied in knots. They were using satellites to scan the oceans to search for pod locations. He needed to tell Veridia, but it was hours until it would be dark enough to risk going in the water. The various news outlets all said that it was to help locate the young mermaid’s pod, but Zac knew better. They would be scanning only the oceans around Hawaii if they just wanted to get her home. Instead, images of orange tails in the middle of the South Pacific were being broadcasted to the world.

He almost left the bungalow, again. Knowing that it would be against Veridia’s orders, but sure that it was more important to hide the pod in the caves under Mako and the nearby drop off. He had almost talked himself into going, when the door burst open. His heart beat like a rabbit’s, “Cam!”

Cam nearly slammed the door behind him. His eyes were wide and breath labored. “Did you see the news? What are you going to do?”

Zac felt the adrenaline rushing through his veins, it was making him jittery. He was on the edge of flight or fight and he knew he would be fleeing, right to the water, where it was the most dangerous for people like him at the moment. And he was back to spiraling thoughts that weren’t getting him anything but bloody fingertips.

“Zac. Zac!” Cam grabbed his shoulder and shook him out of his thoughts.

“I don’t know! I don’t even know who to ask for help. Rita’s abandoned land completely to stay with the pod and hatchlings. I can’t exactly ask Veridia because just going to the pod might lead someone to them - if they haven’t already seen them on satellite images. And if they have, then going would just lead them here. There’s nowhere safe and I don’t even know how to begin to sort it all out.” Zac’s breaths came quicker and quicker as he ranted. Oxygen was becoming scarce and his vision started to go blurry. He was hyperventilating. He knew it, but he couldn’t seem to slow his breathing. His throat was closing in on him. Hands guided him to his chair, he could barely hear Cam’s voice over the pounding of his own heart beat.

"I’m going to get you some water. Just … stay there.” Cam held his hands up and backed away, worried that Zac would fall out of the chair at any moment. His phone rang and he quickly pulled it out of his pant’s pocket to answer it.

“Carly. Yeah, now is … really not a good time.” Cam glanced back over at Zac, who was staring off into space and had a washed out look to his skin.

“Look, Evie is really worried about Zac and she’s worried that rushing over there would draw attention to him. Can you just give me something to tell her?”

“Carly, Zac isn’t handling this well. I’m serious. He doesn’t look good. He’s just staring into space and looks like he’s going to faint on me. It’s starting to freak me out.”

Carly hummed in worry. “Put Zac on the phone and we’ll see if Evie can talk some sense into him.”

Cam glanced back over at Zac and shook his head. They hadn’t even gotten through week one and everything was a mess. If it was this bad now, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be around when Zac came clean to his parents.

“Okay, let’s get some water in you and see if you can be functioning Zac Blakely for me.”

“Zac?” Evie’s trembling voice echoed through the phone.

“He’s a little … non-responsive right now. Just give me a sec.”

Cam waved the phone in front of Zac’s face. “Hey, fish boy, the phone’s for you.”

Zac stared at the phone and blinked several times before raising a shaky hand to take it and hold it to his ear. “Evie.”

“Hey. How are you holding up?”

“I don’t know what to do, Evie. If I go to the pod now to tell them to hide, I could be seen. If I wait until dark, it might be too late. I -”

The music paused on the radio, switching to an excited female announcer’s voice. “Breaking news, just in. Reports are now confirming the existence of two more schools of mermaids, bringing us up to a total of three located worldwide. That’s correct, worldwide. One has been located in the Mediterranean near the island of Crete. The other is northeast of the Bahamas. For all of you interested in the more mystical aspects, that puts this school inside the infamous Bermuda Triangle. With three schools being located in a week, who knows how many there might be out there. There might be thousands hiding beneath the waves. Wouldn’t that be exciting?”

The male host interrupted his companion’s enthusiastic report. “That’s something else, Karen. I just can’t believe that there are so many in the ocean and have managed to stay hidden for so long. It makes me wonder what types of powers the adults have. Who knows? Maybe this Bermuda Triangle school has something to do with all the mysterious disappearances over the years.”

“Joe, your inner conspiracy theorist is showing again.”

“It’s obvious they don’t want to be found. And all of the mythology surrounding them suggests that they would lure sailors to their deaths. If they could vanish a ship that got to close to them, wouldn’t they do it to prevent from being discovered?”

“They're fish. They might be pretty fish and have the appearance of being female from the waist up, but even the researchers at the Waikiki Aquarium haven’t been able to get their mermaid to do more than hide behind a bunch of fake coral.”

Joe grunted, clearly not swayed from his opinion. “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. Satellites are still combing the oceans for signs of mermaids. I wouldn’t be surprised if we found one off the Gold Coast.”

Karen giggled. “Well, if your conspiracy theory holds up, we just have to look around Mako Island!”

“You laugh now, but I’m tempted to put this station’s money where my mouth is. What do you say, Karen?”

“Oooo, intriguing. What do you have in mind?”

“A contest. Anyone who can supply undoctored, authentic proof of mermaids living off the Gold Coast will win …” Jackpot sound effects rang over the radio. “Two front row seats to see RÜFÜS and two backstage passes!”

“Woohoo! I don’t know about you listeners out there, but that just sounded like Joe throwing down the gauntlet. Go to our website and type in the keyword mermaid to be taken to our submission page. Best of luck!”

Cam’s phone fell from Zac’s limp fingers. Evie’s panicked voice yelled his name from the floor. The edges of his vision grew fuzzy and dim, sounds muted. Zac could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears. His room grayed out for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, he looked up into concerned blue eyes. “Cam?”

“Thank god. I was about to go get your dad.”

“Wha -” Zac blinked and pushed himself into a sitting position. He stared at the floor like he had never seen it before. “How did I get down here?”

Cam patted him on the shoulder and grabbed the still mostly full glass from the table. “Maybe you’d better drink this and not move for a minute.”

Zac took the glass and sipped on the water. His brain felt foggy and slow. “Seriously, Cam. What happened?”

“You hyperventilated and blacked out. I don’t blame you, of course. That type of news would send anyone into fits.”

Zac sat straight up as everything came back to him in a rush. “The pod! I have to warn them.” He pushed off the ground and launched himself out the door.

Cam ran after him. “Wait! You just woke up. Don’t you think you should take it easy for a second before rushing head first into danger?!”

His words fell on deaf ears as Zac leapt from the dock into the canal.

Chapter Text

Zac pushed himself as fast as he could swim. He felt a brief flare of panic from the bond with his sister before the vision hit. Nets were in the water and the surface was churning from propellers. The mermaids struggled to find an exit that wouldn’t expose them to the boats. He shook himself free of the vision and wished he had grabbed a knife before leaping into the water.

The usually quick swim to Mako seemed to simultaneously stretch on interminably and passed far too quickly. The noise from the land people on the boats was deafening as Zac breached the surface of the ocean. Shouts of excitement and cheers rang out as they tightened the nets, forcing orange tails to slap the surface as another exit closed.

Zac reached out towards one of the trawlers with his hand and took control over its propeller, locking it into a tight turn and over the nets it just dropped. The captain wrestled with the wheel, but Zac held firm, not releasing the boat until it’s propeller was completely entangled in nets and rope. A second boat came alongside and tried to help them get free. Seeing his opportunity, Zac focused on their throttle and forced them across the bow of their incapacitated friends. The two boats were hopelessly wrapped in the nets and stalled. They wouldn’t be getting loose without getting into the water. Zac doubted they would be willing to do that with a pod of angry mermaids within touching distance.

A sharp yell came from the first trawler. Zac looked up to see that he had been spotted. He didn’t intend to stick around long enough for the boats on the other side of Mako to help their friends. Several more boats were in the distance. If he had to guess, he would say they were personal craft, maybe even a diving tour boat. Grimacing, he ducked back beneath the surface and swam for the nets directly under the two trawlers. Just enough net had been pulled up that there was a gap beneath them and the coral-covered bottom. He pulled one edge back and started his search for his sister.

Zac swam into Veridia first. He grabbed her wrist and tugged. He was met with furious eyes and an opened hand, ready to fling a nasty spell his way. She froze when she realized who had stopped her. Zac wished he had learned Dolphin so that he could communicate underwater, but showing would have to do. He quickly swam back to the opening, the boats casting ominous shadows along the coral.

Veridia jerked her head up, eyes wide. She spun to face Mako and spoke in hurried squeaks and trills. Within moments, mermaids were swimming towards them. Zac guided them to the opening in the net, hoping that the land people didn’t get their propellers free while the mermaids were so dangerously close to the nets. Some of the mermaids were shepherding hatchlings along, trying to get them to safety as quickly as possible.

As the rush to the exit slowed, Zac realized that he still hadn’t seen Mimmi. Fear knotted in his stomach. He pushed against the fleeing pod, hoping that she was still safe and uninjured. Still not seeing his sister, Zac went back to the surface. “Mimmi! Mimmi!”

“There’s one!”

Thinking he had been spotted again, Zac spun and saw a third boat far too close for comfort. The land people were facing the other direction and pulling up nets onto their deck.

“Neppy!”

Zac breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Mimmi’s voice, but quickly panicked when he realized that the fishermen must have the young mermaid in their net. Zac tried to get a good angle on the pulley the net was attached to, but the boat was rocking and erratic with all of the excited movement on board. Giving up on staying at a safe distance, Zac dropped his hand and ducked under water, hoping the fishermen wouldn’t turn around and notice his approach. Zac waited until he was tucked as tightly against the hull as possible before poking his head up. Neppy’s panicked yells made him want to throw caution to the wind, but he knew it wouldn’t do anyone any good if he got caught too.

Taking a deep breath, Zac grabbed the fender, using it like a ladder to hoist himself out of the water and high enough to reach the gunwale. The net holding Neppy was held high in the air by the pulley. The boom started to swing, bringing her closer to the deck and the fishermen. Neppy was struggling against the net, but her fluke was thoroughly tangled, blood streaming from where it had dug in as she flailed in vain to get free. Zac slung his left arm over the gunwale to hold himself in position and aimed his right at the pulley. With a quick blast, the boom swung back out over the water, yanking the rope free of the cleat it was tied off to. The rope slipped from the pulley and dropped the net with Neppy back into the water.

The fishermen were agitated and shouting at each other, pointing fingers and waving their arms at the broken cleat. Zac released the side of the boat and let himself drop. He swam under the hull and saw Mimmi pulling at the net, trying to get it untangled from Neppy’s damaged fluke. With a powerful pump of his tail, Zac reached the two mermaids and worked as quickly as possible. He knew it was a matter of time before the fishermen tried again and they were too close for comfort. As Mimmi pulled the last of the net away from Neppy’s tail, a splash came from the side of the boat. Their nets were going back in the water.

Zac pointed towards the opening the rest of the pod had escaped through. Mimmi draped one of Neppy’s arms over her shoulders and started towards the exit when she realized that Zac wasn’t following. Zac waved frantically, trying to shoo the two of them away from the boat. He needed to buy them enough time to get free. Mimmi frowned, but turned and swam as quickly as she could with the wounded young mermaid clinging to her.

Seeing his sister leave, Zac turned his attention back to the trawler. They had fired up the propeller and were starting to turn to follow his sister and Neppy. Zac attacked the propeller, focusing his mind on holding the gear and hoping to burn out the engine. He didn’t take note of the nets being pulled in from the water. But when the boat turned back around after it had passed over him, he stopped and moved to a new position along the starboard side. He took aim again, determined to keep the trawler as far from his sister as possible.

Just as he started to jam up the propeller, a deep, searing pain lanced through his abdomen. Blood churned in the water. His hands involuntarily gripped at his stomach, curling around an object. Looking down, Zac saw a metal shaft protruding where his fingers had gripped. A sharp tug, pulled the shaft backwards and a barb jammed into his scales, locking the shaft firmly in place as he was pulled in towards the boat. Pain raced up and down his spine. He couldn’t think of anything but the barb digging into his tail and the slide of the shaft through his scales and skin. He barely felt it when he breached the water’s surface and started the slow ascent to the deck.

Exclamations broke through his pain-addled brain.

“A male!”

“It’s tail is blue!”

“If a mermaid is priceless, how much is a mer man worth?”

“We’ll never have to work again.”

“Think we can stuff and mount it? I’d love this one on my trophy wall.”

“He’s gotta be at least 3 meters!”

Tears dripped down Zac’s face. He never felt so separate from land people. He was their prey, and it was terrifying. He felt his sister through their bond and knew that she would come back for him. He couldn’t let her put herself in danger. Pushing through the pain, Zac let go of the harpoon with his right hand and reached towards the end of the shaft where the rope was tied off. His fingers were slick with blood and the knot was just out of reach. Stretching his fingers out, he visualized the rope unwinding, backwards through the knot and free from the grip. The rope inched its way along in sputters as Zac’s focus faltered through every wave of pain.

The voices below yelled in alarm as they caught on to his plan.

“Get the gaff!”

Zac shook his head, trying to force out the yelling and pain.

“Hurry up with that!”

The knot slipped loose and Zac fell backwards into the water, tail slamming against the gunwale sending shocks up his already pain-ridden body. He wanted to curl up at the bottom of the ocean and stay there for the foreseeable future, but there was no way he would survive if he stopped now. He heard the boat’s engine turnover and pushed himself towards the exit, holding the shaft of the harpoon as steady as possible with one hand.

The boat loomed large overhead, the shadows darkening the reef as Zac struggled to reach some semblance of safety. Blood trailed behind him in spirals. He would have worried about sharks coming in search for an easy meal if the humans weren’t the more terrifying predator pursuing him. The tangled nets finally came into focus in front of him. The two boats he had sabotaged earlier had worked themselves free, but were still floating idly with a third, smaller boat pulled alongside. Zac couldn’t muster the energy to care what was above him, just that the opening was still there. He was inches from escape. The boat that had been following him peeled off in the opposite direction. Tired and sluggish, Zac swam as close to the sandy bottom as possible with the harpoon still protruding from him.

Zac’s vision wobbled. He needed to get somewhere safe. Somewhere he would be protected. He swam on autopilot, not sensing where he was going, just following an ingrained instinct and trusting it to guide him. His tail worked slowly, bruised and battered from the collision with the boat. Every pump of his fluke sent more blood into the water. He couldn’t remember when the water changed from clear blue to darker green, or when the currents calmed. The water grew shallow, sandy bottom rising up until Zac had to twist his body sideways to prevent the harpoon from dragging. Gulls cawed and the sun beat down on his exposed body laying on a beach near a white pier. He knew this place. If he could stay awake, just a bit longer, he knew help would come.

The bond he shared with his sister blinked and wavered. He’d felt the sensation once before. When he was in the merman chamber and the trident stone stole his life before Mimmi brought it back. He knew this. His heartbeat raced. His dad had said something about that. Something serious. He couldn’t remember. Water gently lapped at his fluke. Zac felt a brief flare of panic. The land people would see. He tried to pull himself further on shore. If he got dry, he’d be safe. His fingers dug into the sand, but he couldn’t find the strength to move his muscular tail out of the water. Exhausted, Zac closed his eyes. Maybe after a rest he’d be able to pull himself on land.

Chapter Text

Mimmi steered Neppy towards the drop off. She had heard Veridia’s instructions when Zac had first arrived to help. Every moment she was separated from Zac, her anxiety grew. She knew he was trying to give her time to get Neppy to safety, but he was her little brother. It was her job to protect him. A vision of blood in the water brought her up short. A bloody shaft surrounded by tan fingers. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and go back for him. Phantom pain lanced through her stomach. Gripping Neppy tightly against her, she swam on.

Veridia was waiting for them just before the ocean ledge. Another vision crashed over her. She felt disoriented, but with a destination. Trying to get a sense of what direction Zac was heading, Mimmi clicked a quick goodbye and passed Neppy to Veridia. She turned on her tail and turbo swam towards the canal. She felt the bond blink in and out, hazy visions overlapping her own. She didn’t slow down as she approached the shore. Aiming for Zac’s blue tail, she pushed herself as far onto the sand as possible, wriggling and dragging herself free of the water.

“Zac!” Mimmi grabbed his limp hand in hers. “Wake up! Come on!” She looked around, hoping to see anyone that could help, but the Blakely’s yard was empty. She blasted her tail with heat, steam rising from her scales. Feeling her tail split and turn into a pair of legs, she brought her knees underneath her and shuffled closer to Zac. The gruesome wound in his abdomen slowly oozed blood, leaving a trail on the sand. His tail was streaked with red where he had dragged himself onto shore through the wet blood from the wound.

“Okay. I’m going to get help. Stay with me, Zac.” Mimmi forced herself to leave her brother’s side once again.

Running up the incline to the Zac’s house, Mimmi started shouting, “Dr. Blakely! Dr. Blakely!” She reached the sliding glass door and threw it open. Land people politeness would have to wait for when her brother wasn’t lying beached and dying. “Dr. Blakely!”

Two sets of footsteps thundered down the stairs. “What’s going on?”

“Dr. Blakely! You have to help! It’s Zac!”

Lauren stepped forward, “Zac? What’s wrong? Where is he?”

“You have to come.” Mimmi grabbed Rob by the wrist and yanked him towards the backyard.

Halfway across the grass, Lauren pointed at the prone figure lying next to their pier. “What’s that?”

“Zac. He’s hurt. They used a harpoon.”

“A harpoon!” Lauren ran the rest of the way, half kneeling, half collapsing as she reached Zac.

Rob and Mimmi reached him a breath later. Rob pressed one hand around the wound, holding the harpoon still as he searched for a pulse with his other. “His heart is racing. He must have lost a lot of blood. We need to get him to a trauma surgeon.” Rob paused and stared in dismay at his son’s tail.

Tears dripped down Lauren’s face. “He can’t go to a hospital like this. I don’t think they even have the ability to treat … someone like him.”

“If we get him dry, he’ll turn back. We just have to pull him out of the water the rest of the way,” Mimmi suggested.

“No. No, we can’t do that. It could shift the harpoon. It’s going through his - tail - there’s no telling where it will end up. What we really need is a veterinarian from the Marine Park.”

Mimmi’s face lit up, “Chris works there! Pass me your phone and I’ll call him.”

Rob and Lauren shared a look. “They’re up at the house.”

Lauren started to stand, “I’ll get mine.” But, before she could dust the sand off her knees, a motor rumbled in the canal.

Panicked, Mimmi raised her hand, ready to defend Zac from any opportunistic boaters.

The blue and white checkered boat slowly pulled up to the Blakely’s pier. One of the officers called out over their megaphone, “Is that the injured merman from Mako?”

Rob and Lauren tried to speak, tongues tied, not sure how much information to give the police about Zac’s identity.

Mimmi dropped her arm, but stood rigid, ready to act if they so much as breathed in a way that seemed vaguely aggressive. “Yes. He’s my brother. He rescued one of the injured hatchlings and bought me time to get her to safety. Those fishermen shot him with a harpoon. He needs help.”

The radio crackled to life. “This is the RHIB 4 to the Marine Park. We need an emergency rescue team to the canal for a life-threatening injury to a merperson.”

A staticy voice replied, “This is Dr. Ross. We saw the broadcast and have a team ready and on the way.”

“He’s in bad shape. His sister is with him. There’s also two humans from the house he turned up at. What’s your ETA?”

A brief pause filled with crackling background noise followed before Dr. Ross replied. “They are 5 minutes out from the canal. Can you give me an exact address to send the transport to?”

Mimmi stopped listening and knelt back down next to Zac, satisfied that he would be in good hands soon. Her identity would be revealed in a few short minutes, but she couldn’t care less. Mimmi twined her fingers through Zac’s, hoping for a twitch, anything to confirm that he was still with her.

A small hand wrapped around hers and Zac’s. “It’ll be okay. You have to believe that. He’ll need you to be strong.” Lauren glanced at her husband who was still putting pressure on the wound. “ We’ll need you. You know what he’ll need to get better. This is -” Lauren glanced down at Zac’s tail, “so far beyond anything we know how to handle.”

Mimmi sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks. She struggled to give a small smile to Lauren. As she looked up, she saw the blue uniform shirts of the Marine Park team. “Chris! Chris, you have to help him!”

Chris ran the rest of the way to his girlfriend’s side. He scanned the harpoon with horror. “We’ll have to be really careful about transport.” Glancing up at the Blakely’s, Chris asked, “Is it okay if we bring the van onto your lawn?”

Rob nodded immediately. “Whatever you need to do to save him.”

“Okay.” Chris yelled up the sloping yard, “Karl, can you get the van down here? He’s not going to be able to be moved to well with the sling.”

Karl pivoted and dashed back up the hill towards the street.

Dr. Ross and two other trainers from the Marine Park joined the Blakelys and Mimmi. Dr. Ross glanced at Mimmi, brow furrowed in confusion. “What are you doing here?”

“He’s my brother.” Mimmi kept her eyes trained on Zac’s face, not wanting to deal with any land people reactions at the moment.

“Your … brother? So you’re -”

“Yes. Can you help him? I wouldn’t have agreed to this if I thought there was any other way to save his life.” Mimmi took a chance and met Dr. Ross’ eyes. “And if I didn’t trust you to do the right thing.”

Dr. Ross nodded. “Dr. Blakely, is it? Keep pressure on that wound for a moment. We’ll need to steady the harpoon before we can lift him.”

Karl backed the van down to the edge of the canal and hopped out, leaving the engine running. He opened the back doors and pulled the sling out. “Excuse me. Gotta get this thing next to him so we can get him in the van.” He paused, then looked at Mimmi. “What are you doing here?”

Chris wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Mimmi is Zac’s sister.” He gave her a strained smile, knowing just how painful this whole day had been and it wasn’t even half over. “Come on. I promise we’ll take good care of him.”

Mimmi nodded and let go of Zac’s hand and moved back just far enough for the sling to fit between them. “He’s my baby brother. We just found each other again. I can’t lose him so soon.”

Dr. Ross placed large stacks of gauze on either side of the harpoon and around both the entrance and exit wounds, taping them down on the skin where possible, “Karl, lift his torso a bit so that I can wrap this in place.”

The change in elevation and pressure, elicited a groan from Zac, but it still wasn’t enough to bring him back to consciousness. Mimmi was just happy to have a sign that he was still in there and fighting.

“Alright, let’s get him on the sling.”

The four Marine Park trainers gently lifted him and placed him on the gray tarp. As they set him down Chris grimaced, “We’ll have to roll the tarp onto the handles so that it doesn’t go too high on him and jostle that harpoon.”

“Good spot, Chris,” Dr. Ross praised. “Okay, easy does it.”

The four worked in practiced tandem, rolling the bars just enough to keep them from injuring Zac further and picked him up, fluke dangling from the end. In shuffling steps, they maneuvered him into the van and slid him along the smooth floor.

Before they could close the doors on her brother, Mimmi called out, “You’ll need to keep him wet to prevent him from drying out and getting his legs back.” She saw them turn the sprayers on just before the van doors closed and they took off, up the rise and onto the street.

Rob and Lauren joined her, watching the van carry their son away. Gently, wrapping an arm around her, Lauren softly said, “We’ll give you a lift.”

Mimmi tilted her head. “To where?”

“The Marine Park, of course. I’m not letting my son out of my sight longer than necessary. And there’s no way they’ll have enough information without you there.”

Rob bumped her shoulder with his. “And I dare say, I think he’d feel a lot better when he wakes up and sees you, safe and sound.”

Chapter Text

Mimmi didn’t have to guess where they would be taking Zac. There was only one operating room large enough on site to handle his size and needs.

Rob and Lauren followed closely behind, nerves on edge whenever they overheard the excited whispers from the park visitors talk about the wounded merman. It seemed that everyone knew he was at the park, or soon would be. They kept reminding themselves that there was no where more safe for their son, at least until he was healed and capable of defending himself.

They speed walked through several gates and enclosures, finally stopping at a building tucked away in the far corner of the park. Mimmi punched in a code and swung the door open. Passageways twisted and turned, rooms branched off filled with tanks and pools of various sizes. Mimmi swept past them all. She only slowed down when they reached a large tank that took up half the room. Slightly raised voices came from behind a set of double doors. Mimmi hesitated. Behind those doors was her brother and a team of people who only had the vaguest idea of how to help. The adrenaline that had propelled her this far crashed. Her knees wobbled underneath of her.

Strong arms wrapped around her from either side. Mimmi looked up into Rob’s steady face. “Sorry about that. I just need to sit down for a minute.” Mimmi glanced around the room. “If there was a chair.”

“Totally understandable.” Rob attempted to keep his voice light, “Waiting rooms are the worst. It’s why I prefer to be on the other side.” The double doors swung open and a doctor in blood-stained scrubs stepped out. Looking directly at Mimmi, he sighed in relief, “Good. You’re here. Do you know what blood type he is?”

“Blood type?”

Rob Blakely spoke up, “A positive. At least, that’s what he tested as when human.”

The surgeon stared hard at Rob before nodding. “We’ll be having a serious talk about this later, Dr. Blakely.”

Rob grimaced. “Dr. Barrera.” He suddenly understood why Zac had kept this secret from them. The sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach was miserable. He couldn’t imagine having to live with the anxiety of discovery for as long as Zac had.

Dr. Barrera looked back to Mimmi. “So, we have no idea if his blood type is the same now as it was when he was tested. Would you be willing to donate? It would be better if we could confirm types, but same species is going to have to do.”

Mimmi’s brow furrowed. “I guess so. Will it hurt?”

“A little. But he’s lost a lot and we need to get as much as possible before we remove the rest of the harpoon. You wouldn’t happen to have any more relatives that we could ask to donate, would you?”

Mimmi nodded. “Our mother. I’m sure she’ll help if I can get word to her.”

“Do that. I’ll call the hospital and ask for them to send over some A positive, just in case.” Dr. Barrera turned around and went back through the double doors.

“Mrs. Blakely, can I borrow your phone?”

Lauren dug through her purse and pulled it out, thankful she had grabbed it before they had left for the Marine Park. Rob and Lauren watched as Mimmi tapped in a number and put the phone to her ear.

“Evie? I need you to go to the drop off and get my mother.” Mimmi paced back and forth, trying to keep her worry out of her voice. “Yes. Zac was the one injured. He’s at the Marine Park and needs blood.” She paused and looked at the double doors that hid her brother from sight. “If you need to tell your father so that you can use his boat, do it. It doesn’t matter anymore. We just need her here as fast as possible.” Mimmi hung up and passed the phone back to Lauren.

Chris came out of the operating room, followed by someone else in scrubs. “This is Michaella. She’s going to draw your blood. I’ll be with you the entire time.” Chris wrapped an arm around Mimmi’s shoulder and escorted her into a side room and leaving the Blakelys alone.

Time stretched on, beeps and indiscernible voices leaked out from behind the double doors. Lauren started giggling to herself, hysteria creeping in. “It all makes sense! Who wraps a baby in seaweed of all things? And we just thought he was traumatized and it hindered him reaching his milestones. He wasn’t toddling when we found him because he’d never had legs before.”

Rob shook his head. “But how did he not transform for all those years? He was swim captain, a champion surfer, a lifeguard!”

“That was my fault.”

Lauren and Rob spun around and stared at the woman who had just spoken. She was wearing a red flowing dress. There was something about the shape of her eyes and the set of her cheekbones that was eerily familiar. The Blakelys were so distracted by Nerissa that they didn’t register the presence of the two teenagers and one adult standing behind her.

“I’m Nerissa. Evie said that Zac and Mimmi were here and needed me.”

Lauren tried to speak, but fumbled with her thoughts. “You’re - you’re -”

“Zac’s birth mother. I can’t thank both of you enough for taking him in. I had a feeling about you. You have no idea how much you helped not only Zac, but merpeople as a whole. He doesn’t know it yet, but his entire existence and acceptance into a pod on his own merits has begun changing merpeople relations worldwide. You have done an excellent job raising him. I wish I had been able to witness it.” Nerissa smiled at the gobsmacked Blakelys. “Where do they need me?”

Rob pointed to the room that Mimmi had vanished into. “He’s lost a lot of blood. They need whatever they can get.”

Nerissa nodded and murmured to the Blakelys as she passed, “He’ll be okay. He’s much more powerful than even he realizes. His magic will help where the doctors can’t.”

They stared helplessly as Nerissa went to donate blood.

Doug McLaren approached Rob and Lauren. “I think it’s time the kids filled us in.” Turning to look over his shoulder, Doug gave Evie and Cam a significant look. “On everything.”

Cam blurted out the first thing that entered his mind, “I’m sure it’s just a mass hallucination, or something ...”

Evie smacked him with the back of her hand. “Really? Zac is in there fighting for his life, his secret is completely blown, and you go with mass hallucination ?”

“It could be,” he replied indignantly.

Evie glared at him. Sometimes she wondered just how Cam hadn’t managed to expose everything over the past two and a half years. Evie faced the three parents. Taking a deep breath, she began, “We don’t know everything. There’s a lot that’s really confusing. Like, how Nerissa managed to make Zac human for the majority of his life.”

“I’d be happy to know how long you’ve known and kept this a secret from his parents,” Doug stated.

“I didn’t find out right away. I think it was almost four months after having his tail back.”

“His tail back ?” Lauren interrupted.

Cam chimed in, “Well, he was enchanted. Right before school started up again, we went on our camping trip and there was a bit of an accident. The enchantment sort of, partially, broke. Of course, we didn’t realize that at first. We just thought he became enchanted. Not the other way around.”

Lauren waved Cam off. “I think we’d better sit down. My head already hurts. And maybe we let Evie tell the story.”

Doug vanished back down the hallway and returned with several chairs he had found in an unoccupied room.

After the five were seated, the story came out. There were many times when Evie and Cam had to backtrack to add in information. The twists and turns of the story dragged on as the adults sought clarity in a situation as murky as the bottom of a mud flat. More infuriating were the times when the teenagers had no answer other than, “magic,” or “you’d have to ask Nerissa.”

Doug had been silent since he found out that Evie had spent the better part of a year as a mermaid and hadn’t confided in him. Evie knew he was hurt. But with how everything was unraveling since humans had discovered the existence of merpeople, she couldn’t help but feel justified in her decision to keep it to herself. She didn’t believe her dad would have deliberately exposed the secret. But, she also wasn’t sure that he would have kept quiet if he thought he could fix her, either.

The teenagers had run out of answers by the time they were joined by Mimmi and Nerissa. An uncomfortable silence fell upon the group.

“Guess I should go grab a couple more chairs.” Cam quickly removed himself and trotted down the hallway, more eager to get out of the room than to actually locate something for the mermaids to sit on.

Lauren was the next to stand. She stared at Nerissa, trying to take her all in and square it with everything she had heard. She couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been to swim from the Hudson Bay to the Gold Coast with a baby and toddler in tow and an evil mermaid chasing her. And then to get to a safe haven and have to separate her children and leave them to give them the best chances they could have at survival. Lauren’s heart broke for Nerissa. Without warning, Lauren lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the other woman, pulling her tightly in. “Thank you. Thank you for trusting us with your son.”

Nerissa was stunned. She stood frozen until Lauren’s words finally registered. Slowly, she raised her own arms and embraced her. She hadn’t realized how much she had been afraid of the Blakelys discovering the truth and judging her until that moment. Lauren, at least, understood. Nerissa tightened her grip on her. Tears dripped down her cheeks. She couldn’t contain her warring emotions any longer. Fear, worry, relief, anxiety, they all crashed down as Lauren held her.

The double doors opened once more, disturbing the group. As one, they turned their attention to Dr. Barrera and Dr. Ross.

Dr. Ross took the lead, “Zac is doing alright. We’ve removed the harpoon and closed the wound. He took all the blood we drew from his mother and sister. Mimmi and Nerissa shared all the details we needed to make sure that the tank we’re transporting him to is the right temperature and salinity. Considering that he’s used to the waters here and not his birthplace, we agreed that it would be best to use those specifications. I don’t know when he’ll regain consciousness. He has been through more than imaginable for one day, so don’t expect miracles. Once he wakes, it’ll take even longer to rehabilitate him. He’s also not going to be allowed to transform until we’re sure that his internal injuries are completely healed. There’s just too much that we don’t know about how the magic works. We’d rather be safe than sorry.”

“When can we see him?” Lauren asked.

“We’re transporting him right now. He’ll be kept in a suspended sling and have two trainers on constant watch. Once we’re sure that he’s settled and taking to the tank well with no change in his vitals, you can see him.” Dr. Ross raised a hand before anyone could ask another question. “But, you’ll only be able to see him from outside of the tank. We don’t want any contaminants getting in with him and possibly disrupting his healing. The trainers will be fully decontaminated before and after entering the tank to keep a safe eye on him. Until further notice, they will be the only ones allowed in the water.”

Dr. Barrera nodded to Dr. Ross, “Thank you for allowing me to assist you. It was one for the record books.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Dr. Barrera walked over to Rob and addressed him head on, “It’s time for that talk.”

Chapter Text

Cam came back with two chairs, only to find the room missing three people. “Guess we don’t need these anymore.”

Lauren spotted him standing in the doorway. “Cam. Doug just took Evie home. If you hurry, you can probably catch them.”

Scuffing his sneakers along the floor, Cam shook his head. “Nah. It’s okay. I’d rather walk. Did they say when we could see Zac?”

“Probably soon, but he’s not expected to wake up for awhile. And we can’t get near him until further notice.”

“That’s rubbish. He’ll freak out if he wakes up in a tank, looking up at unfamiliar faces.”

Mimmi sighed. “Don’t you think we’ve mentioned that? They’re more worried about his wound getting infected than they are of him injuring himself trying to escape.”

Cam rolled his eyes. “Call me when he wakes up?”

Mimmi nodded as Cam turned and left for the night.

Rob was still talking with Dr. Barrera when Dr. Ross and Chris came back to announce that they could see Zac.

The three women followed them to the next room over with a tank as large as the one they had just left behind. The sling holding Zac was suspended from a rig positioned above the tank. Karl and another trainer were carefully removing sensors from Zac’s chest. Zac’s skin was ashen, his tail almost grey instead of the vibrant blue it normally was. Around his middle was an odd, white, gelatinous material covering his sutures. They pressed as closely to the glass as possible.

Lauren struggled with seeing her son not only injured and unconscious, but looking so alien. The glass separating them made it all the more clear that he belonged to a different world. She looked over to Mimmi and Nerissa. Nerissa was holding up better than Mimmi, but it was obvious that they were both distraught. Mimmi was visibly shaken, leaning against her mother’s shoulder. Lauren reached out to the young woman and rubbed her back. “It looks bad now, but they said he was stable.” She wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince Mimmi or herself, but hopefully saying it out loud would make it more real.

Nerissa gave Lauren a small smile. “It’s the tank. They may have saved his life, but it’s hard to be sure that they’ll let him go when the time comes.”

Mimmi nodded. “I trust Chris with my life. And I know it was the only way to save Zac. But being trapped in a tank and examined by land people? That’s every merperson’s worst nightmare, including Zac’s.”

Lauren turned back to face her son’s prone body. He wasn’t going to be waking up anytime soon, but when he did, it might just be to his biggest fear. It made leaving for the night even harder, knowing that there was nothing she could do for him.

“Rob and I will be back tomorrow morning. Will we see you both?”

“I’m not leaving my brother alone.”

Nerissa gently chided her daughter, “There’s nothing either of us can do now. If you’re exhausted, you won’t be of any help to him when he wakes up. And the pod needs every available mermaid to make sure that they’re safe in the caves along the trench.”

Mimmi glared at Nerissa. “Zac saved the entire pod, today. If anyone needs to be protected, it’s him. I promised Zac that I would never let him be alone again. I’ll sleep with the dolphins if I get too tired. But someone has to put Zac’s needs above the pod’s.”

“Veridia does care about Zac. Everyone does.”

Mimmi huffed, not willing to get into it with her mother. She didn’t doubt that Veridia was grateful. But, worried? Mimmi couldn’t help but remember Veridia trying to kill her brother in the chamber on Mako when they realized who he was. No. She was his big sister and she belonged by his side.

Nerissa patted Mimmi’s hand and nodded to Lauren. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Lauren wrapped her arm around Mimmi as Nerissa left. “Thank you, Mimmi.”

“He really does love you, you know? It’s why he’s tried so hard to stay on land. And why it took so long for him to accept that this is his real form.” Mimmi paused and stared at her brother lying limply in the sling. “After he’s healed, everything will be different. Everyone will know his secret. He won’t be safe. And I don’t know if he’s even capable of giving up life on land.”

Lauren thought she knew what Mimmi was getting at. “If it’s for his safety, Rob and I will encourage him to choose the - the pod.”

Mimmi shook her head. “That’s not it. I know you would. But, he was raised on land. And he’s never actually been out in the open ocean.” Mimmi laughed morbidly to herself. “He’s never even spent a full day in his tail. This will be his first time not able to leave the water since he was a baby. I just - I worry that if he’s forced to live in the ocean, he’ll be as helpless as a hatchling.”

Lauren pulled Mimmi in tighter. She had never felt fear for her son like she did in that moment. His future was uncertain and dangerous. For a fleeting moment, she hoped that he would be kept behind glass for the rest of his life. At least he would be safe. But the thought of Zac, her beautiful son, trapped and put on display for people to gawk at, turned her stomach. “Keep him safe.”

“Always.”

Lauren patted Mimmi’s shoulder and forced herself to walk away. She would return first thing in the morning. The museum would just have to do without her for the foreseeable future. She passed Rob and Dr. Barrera in the hallway having a heated discussion. “Boys, if it’s not too much trouble, it’s late, our son is stable, and Mimmi is staying the night. Whatever argument you are having can wait until tomorrow, when everyone’s heads are clear.”

Rob and Dr. Barrera ducked their heads, embarrassed at being called out for their behavior.

“You’re right, of course. I’m sure everything will make more sense after a rest.” Her husband followed her out, regretting that he had gotten so involved with arguing with Dr. Barrera that he hadn’t had a chance to see Zac before leaving.

Mimmi paced in front of the tank. She had stayed awake during the last two shift changes. Chris and Karl had just taken over the morning shift. Her boyfriend was talking to her from the water as he raised the sling to pull Zac out so that they could check his wound for signs of infection and replace the bandage and waterproof covering.

“Mimmi, if you want, you can take a nap on my cot in the back. You can even drag it out here so that you can sleep in sight of him. No one will mind.”

“I hate sleeping in legs. They get all numb and tingly when you hold them wrong.”

Chris chuckled. “It’s better than no sleep.”

“How’s he doing?”

“Vitals are good and stable. He’s got a bit more color to his skin. I’ve never seen his tail before, so I’m not really sure how deep of a blue it’s supposed to be, but it looks less washed out than last night. That’s good. It means the blood transfusions worked, his blood pressure is up, and Dr. Ross and Dr. Barrera didn’t miss anything during surgery.”

Mimmi nodded to herself.

“We’ll be doing an ultrasound later today. I know they wanted to do some full body x-rays, but that will have to wait until he can be safely moved more. The ultrasound can be done here.”

“What are those? And why are they running so many tests?”

“The ultrasound will give us an idea of what is going on inside. While it looks good from here, it’ll be nice to confirm that there’s no further internal swelling or bleeding. The x-rays will tell us if he broke any bones. Just because we got the most important problem fixed, doesn’t mean that there’s something less obvious hiding somewhere and we just don’t know how to recognize it.”

“Okay.” Mimmi rested her head against the glass. She really was tired and out of everyone, she trusted Chris to do what was best for Zac, even if it was really for her. “Maybe I will take that nap.”

“If anything changes, I’ll have someone come get you.”

Karl waited until Mimmi was out of earshot before interrogating Chris. “You’re dating a mermaid. How long have you known?”

“A couple of months.”

“And you said nothing?”

“No. And I would have kept saying nothing as long as they needed me to.”

“Your girlfriend isn’t human. How does that even work?”

Chris smiled, “Magic.”

“Remind me to hit you, later.” Karl carefully placed the new bandages on Zac’s side and taped them down. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“There’s a real live merman in our care. And he’s been entrusted to us by his sister. I get the feeling there’s a lot counting on us handling this right.” Karl passed the waterproof cover to Chris as he lifted Zac up just enough to slip it under his body.

“There is a lot depending on us. Particularly since the Waikiki Aquarium hasn’t released their mermaid. According to Mimmi, the pod isn’t that far of a swim from where they are keeping her. If they would just let her go, she could easily find her way home. The mermaids see it as proof that land people can’t be trusted. That we are an enemy. The attack at Mako just further cements the idea. We have to release Zac as soon as possible; probably earlier than is best for him.”

“It’d be irresponsible to release him before he’s healed.”

“They won’t care. The pod is good at taking care of their own, and his adoptive father is a doctor. If we hold him too long, it could break the last of the fragile trust they have in us to do the right thing.” Chris pulled the cover tight and snapped it closed, the material sticking to itself and sealing the water out.

Chris pressed a button on the remote control and lowered Zac back into the water. They situated him just deep enough to cover three-quarters of his body, but kept his face free. Mimmi said they could breathe underwater, and Zac did have gills, but no one was comfortable enough to trust that he could process enough air through them while they were partially compressed in the sling.

Dr. Ross trotted up the steps to the landing on the side of the tank. “How’s our patient doing?”

Karl stepped back from Zac’s side before answering. “Stable. The wound is clean and there’s no sign of infection, so far.”

“I saw Mimmi sleeping in your cot, Chris.”

“She finally agreed to take a nap, as long as I’m here with her brother.”

Dr. Ross nodded. “Has anyone else been by?”

Chris shook his head. “Not yet. But, I’m sure they will be. Between his parents and girlfriend, we’ll be pretty closely observed.”

“Let’s be as open and honest as possible. Absolutely no hiding details or hedging. I get the feeling that it’s only Nerissa and Mimmi’s faith in us that is keeping the Marine Park from being stormed by a pod of angry merpeople.”

Karl and Chris glanced at each other, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Any boat that goes near the trench suddenly has massive engine failure. The one boat we sent out there to investigate was approached by three mermaids where they made it abundantly clear that they did not like that one of their own was in our hands and would rather take care of him themselves. Nerissa and their pod leader showed up and convinced them to let it go.”

“Why haven’t they returned to Mako?”

“They don’t seem to trust that the Marine Police have cleared the area. I think they also aren’t comfortable with land people patrolling the edges of what they consider their waters.”

Chris broke in. “They are their waters. They’ve been around a lot longer than we have.”

Dr. Ross hummed to himself. “I don’t think the Australian government is ready to see it that way.”

“Then I hope they see it that way before Zac’s ready to be released. He doesn’t need the extra stress of trying to choose which family to live with.”

By the time Chris and Karl’s shift was over, it was still quiet. Zac’s visitors hadn’t returned, which made Chris worry about just how much support was waiting for Zac when he finally regained consciousness. Chris sat on the edge of the cot next to Mimmi. He wanted to let her sleep, but he knew she would never forgive him if he didn’t wake her for shift change.

Gently, he shook her shoulder. “Hey there. Lunch time.”

“Chris? Hey.” Mimmi stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “How’s Zac?”

“Fine. He’s healing faster than we anticipated.”

Mimmi smiled, relief starting to set in. “Who else is here?”

Chris’ eyes dropped down, “No one, yet.”

“What do you mean no one?” Mimmi shot up, forehead nearly colliding with Chris’ nose.

“From what I can tell, your mother is still with the pod, trying to keep them safe and prevent them from starting a war.” Chris hesitated before continuing. “I don’t know where the rest are.”

“Evie wouldn’t let anything keep her from Zac. And his parents were really scared last night. They’ve got to be here!”

Chris fumbled for his phone before handing it to her. “Why don’t you call her and see what’s held her up?”

Mimmi nodded and took the phone. It rang several times before a hushed female voice answered.

“Evie? Where are you?”

“Dad’s still really upset that I kept this all from him. Is Zac doing okay?”

“He’s stable. Doing better than they expected. Are you going to come by this afternoon? If he wakes up, he’s going to want to see you.”

“I’ll try. I think Dad’s a little weirded out that I’m dating someone who’s not human. He’s actually really shaken that it’s Zac. I get the feeling he’d been planning our wedding in his head for awhile and now he’s not so sure if he’s even comfortable with me and Zac dating.”

Mimmi sighed. She understood how Evie felt about her relationship with her dad. It had been strained for so long and everything was out in the open, now. There was a lot to work through. She just wished that they could work through it after Zac was better. Mimmi said her goodbyes and hung up. Not sure about her luck, she tried Zac’s house number. It rang and rang, eventually going to voicemail. Thankfully, it gave the numbers for both of his parents to be reached in case of an emergency.

Dialing Lauren’s cell number, Mimmi crossed her fingers.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs. Blakely? This is Mimmi.”

“Is Zac okay? He hasn’t gotten worse has he?” The panicked voice over the line confirmed that Mimmi hadn’t been wrong about Lauren.

“He’s doing much better. I thought you were going to be here this morning. Is everything okay?”

“We’re tied up at the school. The board found out about Zac and have decided to expel him. They’re in the process of removing Rob from the board, too.”

“Why?!”

“If Rob is still affiliated with the school and making donations, they can’t, in all fairness, expel Zac. But, it’s more important to them that they only teach human children. They’ve decided that Zac isn’t ‘a good fit’ for their curriculum. I’m trying to convince them to let him take the end of year tests. He’s so close to graduating. I don’t want this taken from him, too.”

Mimmi closed her eyes. Losing out on getting his diploma wouldn’t be a big deal if he wanted to live a life with the pod, but it completely ruined his opportunities to have the type of life that he had planned for. “I get it. I’m not going anywhere. Hopefully we’ll have something good to tell him when he wakes up.” Mimmi hung up and passed the phone back to Chris.

“Are they coming?”

“The Blakely’s are hung up at the school, but they’ll be here as soon as they can. I don’t know when Evie will be able to convince her dad to let her come.”

Chris stood. “You haven’t eaten anything all day. Why don’t we grab a bite and get some fresh air?”

Mimmi shook her head. “Go on. I just want to stay here in case something happens.”

Taking her hand, Chris acquiesced. “Alright. But, I’m bringing you back something to munch on, whether you like it or not.”

Mimmi giggled and leaned up to kiss her boyfriend when alarms started coming from the room holding Zac.

Chapter Text

Zac opened his eyes and saw two blurry shapes above him. He blinked, trying to focus. The last thing he remembered was pulling himself up on a beach with a harpoon in his side. They were land people. Land people standing above him while he was in the water. Zac thrust his hand out and used all of the force he could muster to push them away from him. Distantly, he registered a splash from one and a deeper thunk from the other.

He grabbed on to the rails of the thing that was keeping him afloat and pulled himself up enough to take in where he was. Pain slammed into him as his wound was compressed from the front and stretched from the back. He lost his grip and slid into the shallow water. His tail pressed against the bottom of the tank. He knew he was in trouble. Alone and caught in a tank with land people doing who knew what to him was all of his worst fears come true.

He stayed under for a second more and realized that one of the land people was coming back towards him. He stretched his arm out again and focused on tossing them clear of the tank. The pair of legs vanished up and out of the water. Zac broke the surface in time to hear the person land on the floor outside of the tank with a loud exhale. The gasping sounds coming from the floor confirmed that he had pushed them out with enough force to make them lose their breath. The other land person was grasping the side of the tank and making no moves to approach him.

Forcing himself to ignore the deep pain coming from his side, Zac turned to the wall that had ladders attached. Several more people rushed up stairs on the outside and stood on the landing they used to enter the tank. All Zac cared about was getting free. They were yelling and waving their arms, but it didn’t make sense to him. His vision flared and heart raced. Briefly, he was back in the waters off Mako with the fishermen waving and yelling. Fresh fear fueled his efforts to escape. With a sweeping gesture, he pushed a wall of water at the land people, forcing them to stumble. Grunts and yells echoed through the room. He pumped his tail, but couldn’t manage the full range of motion. He felt sluggish and incapable of producing the powerful strokes he was used to. Just as he reached where the tank wall met the landing, he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye.

Spinning, he saw a glint of metal before he regretted the action, pain splintering up his spine and blurring his vision. He grasped at his side and pressed it, hoping to gain just enough focus to stave off whatever attack was coming next. Opening his eyes, he realized that the person he had left alone against the wall had gotten help from the outside and now held a metal pole in their hands. The end was tipped with something sharp. Breath coming sharp and fast, Zac didn’t care to figure out what they were coming at him with. He lashed out again, determined to keep whatever it was far away from him. The person collided with the wall again, the back of their head connected with the glass and they sunk beneath the surface.

Loud voices came from directly behind him. The land people had gotten back up and were scrambling. Another person dove in and headed for the unconscious one at the bottom. Zac tried to ignore the chaos and pull himself up and over the tank ledge, but there was someone standing in his way. He reached out and grabbed their leg and tugged as hard as he could. Their knees crumbled and they tumbled into the water just to his right. Zac continued to push past the worsening pain as he tried desperately to pull himself out of the tank.

A wet hand reached up and grabbed his shoulder. Zac vaguely recognized the older man touching him, but he couldn’t put anything together. The sharp object was back and in the man’s other hand. He was saying something in a soft voice, but Zac only had eyes for what he finally identified as a needle. He didn’t know what was in it, but he wasn’t about to find out. Zac grabbed him and pushed him under the water, following him down.

Mimmi and Chris rushed out of the back only to be met with chaos. Several people were on the soaked floor, clutching various body parts. One was outside the tank banging on the wall and yelling. Three more were on the landing and waving at something in the water. Mimmi ran ahead and climbed the stairs to the landing. To her horror, she saw Zac holding Dr. Ross under the water, something was laying on the floor of the tank near them.

“Zac, no!”

Mimmi jumped in, the water barely coming to her chest until her transformation finished. She ducked under the surface and grabbed one of Zac’s arms, pulling him away from Dr. Ross. Zac stopped the moment he saw his sister. Relief mixed with confusion as she pulled him into her arms. Nothing else mattered in that moment except that Mimmi was there, solid and real in his arms. He buried his head into her neck, body shaking from sobs that made no sound underwater.

Dr. Ross took the opportunity to escape back to the surface and pulled himself out of the tank with the help of several people on the landing. The other able-bodied trainer followed suit, passing their injured coworker to the team before getting themselves out.

Mimmi gave a gentle push with her tail, bringing them both to the surface. Zac stayed wrapped around his sister. Mimmi carded her fingers through his hair and whispered in his ear, “It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe. They are just trying to help.”

Zac shook his head against her shoulder. “No. No. They won’t. They were yelling. There were poles and needles.”

“They just didn’t want you to hurt yourself. You’ve been unconscious for a day and a half. They had to remove the harpoon and sew you back together. You were in surgery all of yesterday afternoon. I promise. They just want to help.”

Zac held on tighter to Mimmi, not willing to let go of the only person he was sure that was on his side.

“Mimmi,” Chris murmured from the landing.

Mimmi glanced at him over the top of her brother’s head.

“Can you get him back to the sling? He’s probably burst some stitches. We really need to take a look.”

Mimmi nodded and spoke low and soothingly to Zac. “Come on. We need to get you checked out. Is it okay if Chris takes a look?”

“Chris?” Zac pulled his head up, eyes still glossy. “Chris is here?”

Mimmi gave a weak smile, “Of course he is. Who else would I call to help?”

Zac blinked and let go of Mimmi long enough to rub his face. Calmer, he turned and took in the landing and all of the faces. Some of them he vaguely recognized, but several he knew well. A flush of embarrassment worked its way up his back and neck and into his cheeks. “Oh.” He took in the state of disarray of everyone, people standing warily at the edge of landing, not sure if it was safe to approach. “I am so sorry.”

“I told them it was a bad idea to let you wake up in a tank all alone. I think they know why I said that, now.” Mimmi pulled Zac’s arm across her shoulders and helped him swim to the sling. They both stopped and puzzled at how he was going to slide into it. Without his weight, it had deformed and was slightly too high to maneuver his body into.

“Mimmi,” Chris called again.

“Right. Chris is going to come in and help, okay?”

Zac nodded. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize -”

“Shhh. I know you didn’t. They know you didn’t. The last thing you were awake for was swimming into the canal and trying to get away from fishermen who had just speared you. It’s understandable.”

Chris waded over, hands raised placatingly. “Hey. Let’s get this lowered.” He reached up and unwound the cable holding the controller out of the water.

A few seconds later and Zac was able to easily swim into the sling. Mimmi swam to the other side and draped her hand over the rail, threading her fingers through Zac’s.

Chris raised the sling just enough to bring Zac’s bandage out of the water, forcing Mimmi to stretch to maintain contact. Carefully, Chris eased back the waterproof wrapping and exposed the bloody bandage underneath. He pulled back the tape and gauze, revealing exactly what he had suspected.

“Okay, you’ve busted some of these stitches. Probably some more on your back, too. I want to get the ultrasound in here and make sure you haven’t done any internal damage.”

Zac dropped his head back, cursing himself silently.

Chris waded back to the landing where Karl was waiting with the portable ultrasound. “I’m going to need someone to hold the box while I use the wand.” He looked hopefully up at his friend.

Karl raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“You’re the one who swims with sharks. Besides, they know who you are, which will go a long way to keeping them calm.”

“Great.” Karl jumped into the tank and followed Chris back to the two merpeople.

Chris pulled the gel packet from the kit and spread it over Zac’s stomach as Karl turned on the portable set. “Dr. Ross, we’re set up here. Do you have the station on?”

A rough cough echoed through the room before an answer came, “Yes. We’re all set to go down here.”

Chris placed the wand on Zac’s stomach, careful not to run it directly over the open wound or drag the gel into the site. Dr. Ross called out directions as Chris manipulated the ultrasound to get every angle. Mimmi was enraptured with the device, she wished she could see what Dr. Ross was, but it was impressive that land people could look inside someone without actually opening them up.

“I looks good. I don’t see anything alarming. We’ll have to keep a close eye on it, though.”

Chris passed the wand back to Karl and opened several wipes, cleaning up the gel as best as possible.

“We’re going to have to fix the sutures. That would be easiest to do in the OR.”

Chris took one look at the panic on Zac’s face and called back to Dr. Ross, “I don’t think that’s going to be the best option. It’s only a couple of stitches in his abdomen. Do you want me to check his back? It might be possible to do it here.”

Dr. Ross sighed. “Okay. Karl, help Chris roll him onto his side and get a look at that wound.”

Karl groaned, but walked to the landing and passed the ultrasound to a set of waiting hands before heading back. He took his place on the other side of Chris and next to Mimmi, carefully helping to turn Zac onto his side.

Chris pulled the bandage back and sighed in relief. “There’s a couple of popped stitches here, too. But, it’s not bleeding excessively. The waterproof wrap must have compressed and restricted movement enough to prevent too much damage.” Chris pressed the gauze back in place and pulled the wrap back tight around Zac’s midriff.

“Alright, Karl, get out of there. I’ll get in a wetsuit and join Chris.”

Chris leaned down and whispered to Zac, “Do you want me to ask for an anesthetic? You had a really bad reaction to the tranquilizer needle.”

Zac shook his head. “I’ll deal.”

“Okay. But, if it’s too much, don’t be afraid to ask.” Chris met Mimmi’s thankful gaze and gave her a stiff smile.

Mimmi squeezed Zac’s hand as they waited for Dr. Ross to get dressed and back in the tank. Zac’s eyes started to glaze over, getting lost in his thoughts as he stared straight up into the fluorescent lights.

“Hey,” Mimmi shook the hand she was holding, “Don’t go there.”

“Go where?”

“That dark, depressed place you like to go in your head before you do something really stupid.”

Zac snorted. “I have a habit of doing that, don’t I?”

“You do. And for some reason, I end up being the one to talk sense into you. I don’t know what you did without me.”

“Evie would usually shake some sense into me. I think she’s happy to share the responsibility.”

“Foist it off on me, is more like it,” Mimmi teased.

Zac laughed, then groaned, pressing his free hand over his side. “Ow.”

Chris shuffled up towards Zac’s shoulders when Dr. Ross approached the sling.

“Okay, let’s take a look.”

As Dr. Ross reached out to undo the wrap, Zac grabbed his forearm. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I never - I didn’t realize -” he trailed off, not sure how to apologize for nearly killing the man.

Dr. Ross patted Zac’s shoulder. “We should have listened to Mimmi and taken everything into account. I think we all saw the injury and forgot the mental trauma you also suffered.” He shook his head and chuckled to himself. “Of course, I think you also reminded everyone to have a healthy fear and respect for all marine life, no matter how attractive or fantastic.”

Zac blushed, pink creeping down his neck and chest.

Dr. Ross laughed. “There we go. Now, let’s get you patched up before you undo all of the hard work Dr. Barrera and I performed.”

“Dr. Barrera? The surgeon?”

Dr. Ross nodded as he pulled back the bandage. “Do you know him?”

Zac craned his neck, trying to watch as Dr. Ross cleaned his skin more thoroughly. “Yeah, he used to share a practice with my dad, um, Dr. Blakely.”

Pressing, his shoulder down, Dr. Ross chided Zac, “Stay still.” He passed a pocket-sized kit to Chris and indicated that he was ready for the needle and suture. “So, he knows you pretty well.”

“He knew me as a kid. Used to come to my swim meets, even.”

Dr. Ross kept talking, hoping that it would distract Zac from the pain and keep him mostly still while he worked. “That explains his shock when he saw you.”

“I’m pretty sure I shock everyone who sees the real me.”

“Probably. But, you are much larger than most people would imagine. You have, what, an extra 75 centimeters on you than when you have legs?”

“You know, I’ve never measured. All of it’s muscle, though. And ridiculously hard to pull out of the water with just upper body strength.”

“I have a hard enough time doing a regular pull up. I don’t want to think about adding solid muscle weight to that.” Dr. Ross grabbed a new stack of gauze and laid it over the newly repaired sutures. “Okay. That side’s done. Let’s get you flipped and work on your dorsal wound.”

Mimmi let go of Zac’s hand as Chris and Dr. Ross maneuvered Zac onto his side and then all the way over. Chris raised the sling enough to keep Zac’s face free of the water. Dr. Ross waded around the sling to the other side, sliding in next to Mimmi. “Alright, same thing here. You doing okay, Zac?”

Zac nodded, not sure if he liked not being able to see, even peripherally, what was happening.

“So, what’s your favorite food?”

“Depends. I usually get fish burgers at the cafe. I guess I’d have to say prawns. Crayfish and lobster are good, but there’s something really satisfying about putting away a platter full of prawns.”

Mimmi giggled, “You need to learn to eat them right. It’s so weird to watch you take the shells off.”

“Weird? I don’t eat lobster, shell and all. How do you keep your teeth from getting damaged? Or not put a tear in your throat from eating that way?”

“We’re merpeople, how else would we eat?” Mimmi baited.

Dr. Ross interrupted before the siblings could get too involved in their teasing. “So, prawns, crayfish, lobster. Any other favorites or are you more of a shellfish only eater?”

“All sorts of seafood. Actually, there’s a couple of dishes that I’ve been wanting to try but haven’t had the chance to. That arctic marshmallow was supposed to be really good. Of course, we probably shouldn’t have trusted anything Ondina made.”

Mimmi chimed back in. “I’m happy to show you how to make it. As long as you follow the directions precisely, it’ll turn out. Ondina was determined to make it sweeter. You should have seen it the first time she tried.”

“She utterly failed at making it sweeter. What even was that flavor? It tasted like rotten feet.”

Mimmi laughed. “I think she invents new flavors every time she tries to cook!”

Dr. Ross patted Zac on the shoulder and with Chris’ help, rolled him back over, securing the waterproof wrap as they did so. “All done.” He waved a finger in Zac’s face with a mock stern look. “No more injuring yourself. You are a patient and will obey the restrictions put on you. Are we clear? I don’t want to have to explain to Nerissa that your stay is extended because you hurt yourself.”

Zac nodded. He would agree to do whatever was necessary to get back to his life as quickly as possible.

Chris lowered the sling so that Zac could easily enter and exit, as needed.

“Come on, Chris. Let’s leave them alone for a bit while we get lunch.” Dr. Ross called over his shoulder as he climbed up onto the landing, “Are prawns good for lunch for the both of you?”

Mimmi replied, “Prawns are fine.”

Alone in the tank, Zac looked up at Mimmi, anxiety and embarrassment clear in his eyes and tilt of his chin. “Mimmi, how do I -,” Zac trailed off, glancing to the side, not able to look at his sister when he confessed his ignorance of the most basic of functions. “How do I sleep? I mean, do I just lay in the sling? Do I sleep on the bottom? Since I’ve had my tail back, I’ve never needed to sleep in the water.”

Mimmi wished there was enough room in the sling to hold the both of them. The separation made it that much harder to demonstrate how to float and let the water carry them off to sleep. Mimmi settled for stretching out next to him and staring up at the ceiling. “Just relax. The water is where you belong. I’ve been sleeping in the moon pool with Ondina and Weilan, until they left. Usually, we sleep in the caves underneath Mako. Not all of them open up to the air. We almost always sleep in groups of two or more. It’s safer that way.”

“I think I exhausted myself more than I realized.”

“You just woke up from surgery.” Mimmi paused, debating how much she should confess to Zac. “You really scared me, you know? When I found you on the shore, I thought you might die. You were so pale and wouldn’t wake up. I swear our bond faded to nothing a couple of times.” Voice trembling, she continued, “I never want to feel like that again.”

Zac’s chest felt heavy with guilt for putting his sister through so much pain. “I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t think they’d actually shoot me. And then it was all too much. It was like my brain was filled with fog and my body was running on instinct to find the safest place to hide.” Zac stretched his neck to peer around the edge of the sling. “You saved my life. I think you’re officially the best big sis a guy could have.”

Chapter Text

[Breaking News]

This is Christiane Amanpour, reporting live from the Marine Park of the Gold Coast. We have received confirmation that the merman that was injured at Mako Island has been transported here to receive treatment. We have secured the footage from the live broadcast, taken by helicopter. Please be warned that it is graphic.

[Shaky footage with no sound takes up two-thirds of the screen. The video zooms in on orange tails clustered around one section closest to two stalled fishing boats, then pans over to a single boat bringing up a net. The image zooms in again on a body with a blue tail, climbing the side of the boat and pointing his hand at the net. Two merpeople with orange tails flee in the direction that the others had. The last merperson appears on the surface and holds his hand out towards the boat that seems to stall. The video zooms in again, becoming more grainy and shaky as they try to get a close up of the merman’s face. The image is briefly obscured by a projectile. The image zooms out once more. The merman is clawing at a harpoon through his abdomen as he is being hoisted out of the water by the rope and pulley. The merman drops back into the water, the blue of his tail making it almost impossible to locate him underwater.]

Several screenshots have been made attempting to get a clear image of the young merman who attacked the boat. It’s clear that merpeople have more secrets they have been hiding. It appears that he is capable of some variety of telekinesis. The fishermen reported that their boats became unresponsive and suffered damage to their engines and propellers. The fishermen state that they were merely attempting to acquire evidence that the unexplained incidents at Mako over the years were caused by a school of mermaids.

The Marine Police issued several violations to the fishermen at Mako Island. The island and waters around it are considered a marine preserve and no commercial fishing is permitted. Only private craft with permits are allowed. The use of nets or any trawling equipment is explicitly prohibited. They issued a brief statement about their involvement and that of the injured merman.

“Three fishing trawlers had their nets in the water, preventing the merpeople from escaping. One of the boats had captured a young mermaid and was bringing her on board. The merman prevented her from being brought on board. Shortly after, he was shot with a harpoon through his torso. We are unclear how he managed to escape or propel himself to land. He was found, beached and unconscious, in the canal. A girl claiming to be his sister and two humans were with him. The Marine Park was called to assist in his recovery. After further investigation into the situation, we will update the public on any actions we intend to take.”

The accounts are clearly different. What we know is that the merman was injured after attacking a fishing trawler. Several local news outlets are reporting that the merman is actually a local boy, the adopted son of a GP and an art museum curator. I have not been able to find any independent source that can confirm this. Most accounts seem to be taken from screen captures of the live broadcast video. It seems extremely unlikely that this rumor is true. However local journalists are also waiting outside the Blakely residence in the hopes of a statement.

Here’s Dr. Ross, the director of the Marine Park.

Dr. Ross glared at the crowd of hungry reporters. His life was devoted to the protection and preservation of marine life and all they wanted to talk about was a fairy tale instead of the very real, very injured, merman sleeping in a tank after being harpooned. He was there to champion Zac. And if he could convince nosy tourists to leave the pod alone, he would.

Stepping up to the podium, Dr. Ross modulated his tone, trying to at least start as a professional. “Good afternoon. I have been informed that you are all here to check on the reports of an injured merman being treated here. I can confirm that we were called to an emergency situation in the canal. We found the merman with a harpoon through his abdomen, unconscious, and beached. We transported him here where he underwent extensive surgery. I collaborated with Dr. Barrera from Gold Coast University Hospital. The harpoon entered his human-like torso and exited his dorsal tail. He is currently in stable condition and in a recovery tank while we monitor his condition.”

“Dr. Ross! Do you expect him to make a full recovery? And if he does, when are you planning on releasing him to the wild?”

“I expect him to make a full recovery. We don’t know anything about merpeople healing rates, so an exact date is impossible to predict. But, the moment he is capable of being released, we will.”

“Dr. Ross, the video that we all saw yesterday suggested that he has some kind of telekinetic power. Is this true? And is it something only the males of the species have?”

“He does have a variety of telekinesis, and much more. I don’t know the full extent of it, but we have been treated to a very potent display of his water manipulation and telekinesis. These abilities are not limited by gender.”

“How dangerous are they, really? The Prime Minister has been vague in his response to what he plans to do about merpeople living directly off our coasts. What do we need to do to prevent them from attacking our boats like that merman did?”

“Dangerous? I assume very. And do? Nothing. They have been here for centuries. And the only ones hurt today were merpeople, by those fishermen you claimed they attacked. People need to respect their natural habitat and leave them alone. That’s all they want. To be left alone.”

“There are rumors that the merman can pretend to be human. That doesn’t suggest they want to be left alone. It sounds like they want to take advantage of us.”

Dr. Ross gave the journalist the dirtiest look he could muster. “Merpeople, in general, do not come on land. They fear humans. Only a very few, under the most dire of circumstances, perform the magic necessary to do so. It is not taken lightly. The actions of humans have proven their fears justified. The Waikiki Aquarium refuses to release the young mermaid to go back to her pod. And just yesterday, the Mako pod was attacked all over a radio station contest. Humanity’s greed knows no bounds. If they have the unfortunate need to come on land, it is done as sparingly as possible. They are well aware of how our governments want to exploit them. They are best left alone.”

“It’s been theorized that this merman is actually the son of a local GP. Any comment on his identity?”

“While Australian law doesn’t address anything concerning merpeople, yet, I am going to use the closest guidelines we have. By merpeople standards, he is not an adult, nor a full member of the pod. As such, we will be treating him as if he is a minor child. This institution will not be sharing any details of his identity.”

The same journalist spoke up again. “But merpeople aren’t human and don’t have any rights or protections under Australian law.”

Dr. Ross gritted his teeth. “There are wildlife protection laws. And laws specifically protecting all marine life in protected areas, which Mako is a part of. If that isn’t enough, common decency should be. Merpeople are just as intelligent as humans and just as capable of communicating. The failings in our interactions between species rests solely on humanity’s shoulders.” Dr. Ross straightened his shoulders and held up a folder. “Now, I have been given permission to share these images with you so that the full extent of the damage caused to the victim can be seen. Each of you will get a copy of the x-rays we have taken and the photographs of the entry and exit wounds. These are graphic. We were given permission with the express hope that it will help deter any future attacks on merpeople.”

Dr. Ross handed the folder to the staff member to his right so that they could distribute them among the press.

“Please direct any further questions to my office. We will give advance notice when and if we decide to hold another press conference.” He stepped away from the podium and ran a hand through his hair. The entire reason he studied marine biology was because he disliked humans as a whole. Every interaction with politicians or the press only solidified his opinion. Dr. Ross sighed and forced the tension from his shoulders. He had merman physical therapy to oversee and hopefully the Blakely’s would have some good news from the school.

Chapter Text

Zac wasn’t exactly anxious to start physical therapy. He knew, in theory, that this would help him recover and give them some measure as to how quickly he could be released. But his stomach ached and his tail right above his fluke throbbed. The x-rays from earlier in the day had been developed and he had a hairline fracture. Needless to say, Zac wasn’t in the mood to find out if that translated to a hairline fracture in his ankle or if it was a broken tailbone. They had placed another binding around the area to give it some stability, but the restricted movement was setting his teeth on edge. And they had no idea how long it would take to heal. He knew Dr. Ross and the team could be trusted to do right by him and the pod, but the four walls of the tank combined with all the poking and prodding did nothing for improving his outlook.

He just wanted his family and friends to stay with him. Logically, he knew that wasn’t feasible. Everyone besides Mimmi and Nerissa were land people. They had to go home at the end of the day to their own beds and their own lives. His parents had dropped by the previous afternoon and chatted for awhile. It was the most strained conversation he’d ever had with them. They spent the entire time trying to not look at his tail and focus on his face, but it was impossible to ignore. He was in the water, with his torso propped up on the platform. They were sitting on the edge of the platform with their legs in the water next to him. It was all surreal and Zac had no idea how to even begin to reconcile all of his feelings and thoughts on anything happening outside of the tank.

Chris and Karl climbed over the edge and situated themselves on the platform.

Chris smiled, “So, we tested Mimmi’s range of motion and figured we could use that as our measurement for your therapy. We were thinking it would be easiest to start out in the sling, so that you don’t have to focus on buoyancy at the same time.”

Zac nodded. He would have prefered to do it in the open water, but he wasn’t sure how his abdominal muscles would take the strain of having to fully support themselves. The pain meds they gave him did enough to take the edge off, but no one was sure how much was a safe dose, so they erred on the side of caution.

What followed was the most strenuous and frustrating experience of his life. He had heard from friends on the soccer team how torturous physical therapy was. He hadn’t believed them until now. Everything hurt, nothing wanted to move right. Towards the end, he knew that if he had been on land and dry, he would have been drenched in sweat. The idle chatter between Chris and Karl had started out enjoyable and helpful, but he was at the end of his patience. He swore that if he heard them say, “One more,” one more time, they would get a face full of water.

Chris must have noticed his rapidly deteriorating attitude, because in the next breath he said, “Okay, that’s enough for today.”

Karl grabbed the remote and lowered the sling just enough for Zac to be able to comfortably enter and exit it at his will.

“Why don’t you take a nap while we go grab your lunch. After working out that hard, I’m sure you could use the calories.”

Zac nodded, but didn’t try to answer. He felt like he could sleep for a week. But, he knew that if he took a nap now, he’d be sore and cranky when he woke up. Instead, he slid out of the sling and lazily drifted around the tank.

Rob wandered through the medical building to the back room. He knew Lauren wanted to come with him, but she was still working out details with the Board. They were on the verge of being swayed to let Zac at least graduate, but Ms. Trumble was a large roadblock. He had no idea why she was being so stubborn in her refusal to allow Zac to finish out his final year. It was now obvious as to why Zac’s grades had taken such a nosedive. He had been dealing with far more than the normal student and trying to keep a huge secret safe from everyone around him.

Chris and Karl were coming out from the back, hair still damp and chatting.

“Boys. How is he doing?”

Chris smiled at him before answering, “Hey, Dr. Blakely! Zac’s doing alright. His stitches are holding and we’ve stabilized the fracture at the base of his fluke. Physical therapy was a little strenuous, but I think we’ve got a good start. The real question is how long his injuries will take to heal. If magic wasn’t involved, I’d say 8 to 12 weeks. But, magic just throws a whole new spin on it.”

Karl shook his head and grinned at his friend. “Even Mimmi wasn’t really sure. She said that there were some potions and things she could try to speed up the process. But with the stories we’ve been overhearing, I’m not sure that’s the safest route.”

“Stories?”

Chris and Karl nodded.

“Like what?”

Chris laughed, “Apparently Ondina, Mimmi’s best friend, accidentally turned her boyfriend into three cats.”

Rob’s brow furrowed, “ Three cats?”

Karl nodded, “You should ask for the whole story. I’m just glad I’m not dating a mermaid.”

“Not for lack of trying,” Chris joked.

“I still think she would have gone for it if she hadn’t moved back to Shanghai.”

“I think if you kept trying, you’d have been lucky to have only been turned into a cat.”

Karl chuckled and nodded. Still smiling he addressed Rob, “You can go ahead and talk to Zac. I’d recommend changing into a wetsuit first, but you don’t have to. Just don’t take your shoes or socks in. And take it easy. He’s a bit tired from PT.”

Chris laid a supportive hand on Rob’s shoulder as he and Karl walked by, leaving Rob to his own devices.

He decided to forgo the wetsuit and left his shoes and socks at the base of the ladder. “Hey, Zac!” He called as he climbed the few rungs and into the tank. He crouched on the platform and waited as Zac swam over.

“Hey, Dad.”

Silence stretched between the two, both trying to pretend that the situation was normal, neither quite managing to convince themselves or the other that that was the case.

“So … how’s Mum?”

“She’s fine. She’s at the school talking with your teachers.”

“Oh. I guess Ms. Trumble isn’t too happy about all of this.”

Rob sighed. “No. She’s not. And I don’t even understand what the real problem is. I could understand if you were something actually hazardous to the other students. But why be so stubborn over merpeople. She’s putting her foot down and the Board is going along with it.”

Zac kept his gaze down and away from his dad’s face. “I’m sorry. About everything. I know you liked being part of the Board. They wouldn’t -”

“Zac, don’t you dare apologize for other people's’ prejudices,” Rob stated fiercely. “It’s why your mother is talking to the teachers directly. They are educators first. And they mostly all like you.”

“Except for Ms. Trumble.” Zac glanced up, brow furrowed. “How am I supposed to pass my science classes if she won’t -”

Rob waved him off. “We’re working on that. I also think it’s fair to say that science will be the last class you need to study for. But, we’ll come up with a solution.”

Zac nodded, brow still furrowed, lost thoughts of his uncertain future.

“Zac. When you said you wanted to be a doctor, were you serious? Is that something you’d still like to work towards?”

He shrugged and gazed at the ripples in the water. “It was the first thing that came to mind. We were trying to cover for a magical mishap long enough for Rita to recover and make it to the meeting.”

Rob frowned and stared thoughtfully at his son. “We haven’t really sat down and discussed your future for years. I didn’t want to pressure you into picking something to make your mother and I happy. But, maybe … maybe we should really talk this out. Figure out where to go from here.”

Zac refused to look up, stubbornly watching the eddies swirl as he held himself in place. “Ever since I found out this was permanent, I haven’t really had a plan. I mean, I would need a profession that I either don’t get wet in, or isn’t hazardous if I do. But, it’s not like I’m really going to be a helpful member of the pod. I’m pretty lacking in everything besides what I’ve figured out on my own.”

Rob knelt down to get as close to his son as possible. “Zac. I don’t care what you do as long as you are happy. What would make you happy?”

“Right now? I really don’t know. I still kinda want to go to university and study something amazing and do something really cool with it. But, I also want to learn all the stuff I was supposed to learn from the beginning.” Zac twirled his fingers in front of him idly. “I’ve never been beyond the drop off and into the open ocean. There’s supposed to be a whole class on how to navigate ocean currents. I just - I just don’t know.”

Rob leaned forward as far as he dared and placed a solid hand on Zac’s shoulder. “Okay. I’ll do everything I can to make sure you graduate from high school. Whatever happens, at least you’ll have the option.”

Zac nodded and let himself drift towards his dad and further into his arms.

“I think we’ve gotten the Board to agree to let you test out. But, I know you’ve been struggling to keep up with your school work. I have a good idea why, now.” He gave his son a wry smile.

Zac ducked his head, blush creeping up his neck.

“I am going to need you to promise me that you will take advantage of every study opportunity we can give you so that you will pass. Your mum and I will sit with you and go over the work ourselves, if that will help.”

“How am I supposed to do study if I can’t leave the water? Water doesn’t mix well with computers or paper.”

“A lot of focus on the subject at hand. And I’ll see if we can’t do one subject at a time.” Rob grinned and nodded significantly at the edge of the tank. “At least we know you’ll be a captive audience and won’t have any distractions.”

Zac groaned. “Your dad jokes haven’t gotten any better. Physical therapy and classes. This is actually torture.”

Rob chuckled. “Well, you may have a tail, but at least you still have a typical teenager’s attitude.” He paused for a moment and asked seriously, “Have you thought about getting Mimmi to teach you some of the things you’ve missed? I know more studying is one of the last things you really want to do, but if it would help -”

“She’s been great. And she’s got a lot going on. I don’t want to put more on her.”

“You know, when you were hurt, she made it abundantly clear to everyone, including your mother, that her priority was you. Full stop.”

Zac stared up at his dad, trying to imagine Mimmi putting his well-being over even their mother. He knew how much Nerissa meant to her. More than anything she had ever said to him directly, knowing that she would choose him over the pod made him feel settled in a way he hadn’t felt since he got his tail back.

Chapter Text

Zac drifted in the tank. He tried not to let his boredom get to him. He knew that his parents couldn’t be with him during the day while they were at work. And he was vaguely happy that he wasn’t doing PT for the moment. But, the tank was mind-numbingly dull. It was shallow by necessity. If he had a problem, they couldn’t risk not being able to reach him quickly. He couldn’t ask Mimmi to stay with him every moment. She needed to be out in the open ocean as much as any merperson. And she had a very real boyfriend who was head-over-heels for her.

He stalled his mindless pacing near the wall of the tank closest to the work station. One of the trainers was doing paperwork and shuffling notes. Zac knocked on the glass to get his attention, but they had their headphones in. He banged on the glass again, but it was no use. Before he put too much thought into it, Zac held out his hand and manipulated a ball of water to float over to the trainer. He had intended to float it in front of his face to get his attention, but the trainer jumped when he saw the ball and shattered it when his hands flailed.

Zac ducked under the water and curled around his tail. He knew he was banking on Cam logic, but he didn’t feel like getting in trouble for drowning the probably important paperwork. A tap on the glass from the soggy trainer had him looking up.

“You needed something?”

Zac smiled sheepishly. He really hadn’t wanted to cause a huge disruption.

“Well?”

He propelled himself to the surface and faced the irritated trainer. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to get you wet. I was just hoping to get your attention.”

The trainer gazed blandly at him.

“I was hoping you could put your music on the speaker. It’s just -- it’s really boring with nothing to do and my head is just stuck on worst case scenarios.”

“What do you normally do during the day?”

Zac raised an eyebrow. “The usual. Go to school, play video games, hang out in the cafe, talk with my girlfriend. If I’m feeling up for a swim, I hang out on the reef, race my sister, mess with Cam if he’s there in his tinny …”

The trainer grimaced. “Yeah. I’d be bored as shit, too. Maybe we can figure out a way to set up a TV in here, or at least a radio.” He smirked at Zac before following up with, “On the upside, it’s only thirty minutes until your regularly scheduled PT.”

Zac groaned and collapsed back into the water, letting himself float. “Never mind. I’ll take mind-numbing boredom.”

The trainer laughed. “Chris and Karl should be here any moment. I was getting the paperwork done to document your progress. Your healing rate is truly exceptional. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say it’s at least twice as effective as a human’s. And humans have one of the fastest healing rates on the planet.”

“Just blame it on magic. That’s usually behind anything weird.” Zac paused for a moment. “Correction. It’s always behind anything weird.”

The trainer laughed. “We go by what science tells us. And we have enough to study for decades just from your time here.”

“You do that. And when you figure out how it’s possible to instantaneously change forms that allows me to breathe underwater and completely restructures my lower body, you let me know. For now, I’m going with magic.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll plug my iPod into the aux for the speakers. Thirty minutes until PT. Better relax while you can.”

Zac waved his middle finger at the trainer’s back.

Physical therapy was as draining as ever. Karl had already hopped out of the tank, but Chris stayed behind to work the sling. “We’ll get another set of x-rays and see how that fracture is healing. While you’re out of the tank, we’ll go ahead and change the dressing over your stitches.”

Zac clenched his hands as the sling lifted him out of the water and started its slow progression to the side. Being a literal fish out of water was one of the most distinctly unnerving sensations he had ever felt. He spent the entire time mentally chanting to himself that he trusted Chris and Dr. Ross and that they only wanted to do right by him. As the sling lowered, faces started to come into view.

Dr. Ross smiled and patted his shoulder when the sling was fully resting on a gurney. “Here we go.”

Zac attempted to give a smile, but only managed a grimace.

“I heard you got a bit bored, today.”

“Ugh. I didn’t mean to get him soaked. I just wanted him to plug in the music.”

“With a floating ball of water?”

“In hindsight, I guess that would freak someone out.”

The team rolled the gurney into the imaging room. Zac knew that they needed to get more x-rays and possibly another ultrasound. His healing was just too different from humans to assume anything.

“So, I was hoping we could get more than just what we need.”

Zac raised an eyebrow at Dr. Ross, but he didn’t seem interested in looking directly at Zac. “Why?”

Dr. Ross sighed. “As you know, we’re doing everything to keep your identity a secret. But, that’s only going to last for so long. When you are released or when you test out of school, you’re reason for being kept anonymous will be gone. As it is, we are struggling to keep the government from interfering. I am hoping that if we provide more data, they will continue to let us keep you in our care.”

Zac didn’t like the sound of that. “Let you?”

“We require accreditation to stay open and do our work. The government wants to study you themselves. They are threatening to remove our accreditation if we don’t turn you over. They have sent a list of things they want to study. It’s only because no one can figure out whether to grant you status as a minor child or if you are technically an animal asset to the park. As a minor child, they don’t have any rights to you. It’s up to your legal guardians where you get treated. And all of your medical records are private. However, if they change you status …”

“Then they can do anything they want to with me.”

Dr. Ross nodded.

Zac swallowed hard. “I guess you should get whatever you can, then. I can’t say that I’m thrilled about the idea of giving them more to study. But, I’d rather be here and get released, than be taken away to somewhere I’ll never be able to escape from.”

Dr. Ross patted him on his shoulder. “Thank you. I thought that was the best option, too.” He took a moment to look Zac directly in his eyes. “I promise you, even if you aren’t fully healed, if we find out that they intend to take you, we will do everything we can to release you back to the ocean before they have a chance.”

Zac nodded, but something in his gut was telling him that the government had no intention of letting Dr. Ross know if and when they would come for him.

“The key to controlling the weather is to let it build. You need to think about how storms form. Pull the moisture up and keep going until you have a cloud.” Mimmi’s cloud slowly grew from a small, white, fluffy ball to a dark grey, threatening stacked monstrosity.

“Now, you have to decide if you want a rainstorm, or if you are trying to drive a boat off course. If you are doing this defensively, you need to add wind. Usually, if we were outside, nature would help out a bit. Building clouds from the ocean makes the weather unstable and will naturally start to be affected by the ocean currents and jet streams. But, we’re inside, so we need to help it along. The tricky part is not losing your focus and maintaining the cloud while adding wind.” Mimmi waved her left arm decisively and a swift wind blew, causing the water to ripple and papers to blow off clipboards and onto the floor.

“Most sailors start getting anxious right about now, and start to look for alternate routes. But there are some stubborn ones that are determined to plow through. So you have to build the storm more. The taller the clouds, the more static they produce. If you keep pulling moisture to the atmosphere, you can get the clouds to start rubbing against each other. And -” Mimmi’s voice was drowned out by a loud clap of thunder and the clouds lit up with internal lightning.

“Eventually, the atmosphere just can’t hold any more water, let it go and don’t force it.” Driving rain fell from the clouds, hitting the water and bringing the wind down to water level, whipping the ripples into waves. Mimmi held the storm for a moment longer before letting go entirely.

“Usually, they’ll decide to alter their route at that point. It’s possible to create full-sized waterspouts. And if you force the rain back into the atmosphere, it’ll make hail. I’ve only seen it have to go to that extreme once. It took 25 mermaids to make such a large storm. And they only bothered because they were researchers with submarines that were exploring the caves that were reserved for mothers with barely hatched young. But! We need to start at the beginning and get you to make a cloud!”

Zac raised his hand and tried to think about pulling moisture upwards, but instead pulled water from the tank directly, creating a tower of water. He quickly released it, which caused a minor tidal wave to splash water out on all sides of the tank. He grinned sheepishly at Mimmi and shrugged. “Oops?”

Mimmi laughed. “That’s okay. Try again.”

They stopped when Zac was exhausted and using the platform to hold himself above the surface. The area around the tank was thoroughly drenched and several trainers had changed into wetsuits to sit outside and watch the magic lesson. Zac had eventually managed to form a cloud and make it build, but the moment he had to let the rain fall and keep the storm, he lost it all. Mimmi declared it an extremely successful lesson.

As the trainers squeegeed the floor, Mimmi pulled herself fully onto the platform. She sighed as she watched Zac zone out after using so much magic. She was proud of her younger brother. He had come so far on his own and made do when no one would help him learn about himself. He had been so brave to challenge the fishing boats to help save the pod. She knew it was the beginning of deeper change and acceptance amongst the mermaids. With how things were shaping up in the human world, she hoped the pods would accept mermen sooner rather than later.

“Zac, before I go, we need to talk.”

“Sure. About what?”

“Our mother and the council are working on a plan to unite the pods. And it will mean that she and I will have to go to the Northern Pod and see if we can’t get everyone to agree.”

Zac angled his head sharply up to look at her. “You’re leaving me?”

“No. No. I’d never leave you.” Mimmi shook her head. “We were thinking you should come with us. You need to see where you come from. And we really need to show unity. It could save the mermen still on land. Not to mention, having the entire royal family in one place would do a lot of good. We can show the pods that we can unite again, be one species. And maybe after we’ve convinced the humans to leave us alone, we won’t have to worry about you being the exception to the rule.”

“Evie!”

Evie smiled, relieved to see Zac conscious and healthy. She glanced at her father, who nodded his permission. Evie darted up the ladder and clambered over the edge and sat down on the platform.

Zac met her at the edge and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his head in her lap.

Evie’s fingers threaded through his hair. “Sorry it’s taken so long for me to come. I was just a little bit grounded.”

Zac sniffled, holding back his emotions. “Mimmi said. I’m just happy you’re here.”

Doug waited for them to have their moment before joining them. “So, how goes the healing.”

“Fine. Faster than expected. Which is good. I can’t wait to get out of this glass box.”

Doug forced a small smile. “I’m glad to hear that.”

The silence dragged on. Zac felt Doug’s gaze on his less than human form and subconsciously hunched his shoulders, burying himself deeper in Evie’s embrace.

Evie ran a comforting hand over his bare shoulders.

Zac loosened his grip and smiled gratefully up at her. “So, how’s school?”

“Ugh. It’s a nightmare. Everyone’s pretty convinced that you are the one they saw on TV and keep after Cam, Carly, and me. Ms. Trumble hasn’t exactly been the picture of subtlety, either. She keeps making jabs at the intelligence of merpeople and then follows it up with questions about whether we can expect you back in class any time soon because you can’t afford to miss with how poor your grades are. It’s probably a good thing I don’t have powers any more. I’d be too tempted to do something.”

“I appreciate the thought, but don’t go getting into trouble over me. My parents are working on the board to let me test out. But, with the way things are going, I’m not sure I’ll even make it to then.”

Evie pushed him back so that she could examine him closer. “What?! Did something happen? Did the wound get infected?”

Zac chuckled. “No. I’m healthy. Healing up just fine. But, it’s been really hard for Dr. Ross to keep me here. There’s a good chance that my status as a minor child will be revoked. If the government declares that I’m not human, there goes any chance I have of finishing high school. And I definitely won’t be getting into any universities if my legal status is fish.”

Doug knelt down next to Evie, getting his knees wet in the process. “Do you have a plan?”

Zac shrugged. “Not much of one. I mean, there’s nothing I can do if they decide to keep me from graduating. To be honest, I’m more concerned about what they want to do. If they change my status, I won’t be safe here. Or anywhere on land.”

“Where will you go?” Doug asked.

Evie looked down at her lap and threaded her fingers through Zac’s.

“To Mako to start."

“To start?”

Evie’s fingers tightened around Zac’s, not wanting to hear his answer.

“My mum, sister, and I aren’t originally from here. We’re Northern Pod. And with how dangerous the waters around Mako are; well, it might be best to go back there and regroup.”

Doug was deeply confused. “Regroup? With who?”

“Nerissa, my mother, is the most powerful mermaid in the oceans. And we’re the last descendants of the royal line. The Northern Pod is considered the strongest and most dangerous. With the way things are, we may have to go there and try to unite the pods once again.”

Doug’s spine straightened. “You mean unite against humans.”

Zac sighed. “Unite and protect the pods from being attacked like Mako. Unite and keep the hatchlings safe. And, hopefully, bring peace back to the oceans too.”

Evie gave Zac a look. “Would they really consider that?”

“We can’t leave any merperson in danger. It’s too risky for all of us. Nerissa suggested that we locate as many mermen hatchlings as we can and bring them into the pods, but the council is hesitant. They are fine with me, but …”

“After what Eric did, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“It’s why we’d have to go to the Northern Pod and convince them.”

“So that’s your plan? Swim to Canada, hope that you don’t get caught, convince the most aggressive pod of mermaids to help, then somehow get all the pods to form an alliance?”

“Pretty much.”

Evie huffed. “So, you’ll just leave us all behind so that you can run off and play prince of the sea? Need I remind you that you’ve never swam in the open ocean before? And you expect to swim from Australia, through the entire Pacific, through the Arctic Circle and back down to Hudson Bay?”

Zac tugged Evie’s hands towards his chest. “It’s crazy. I know. But, it’s probably the only option left. I hope it doesn’t come to that. I want to get my diploma and apply to university. I want to stay and hang out with you. But, I can’t change this any more than I can change what I am.”

Doug stood and straightened his shirt. “I think it’s time to go, Evie.”

“What? But, we’ve barely got here.”

Zac looked away from the McLarens and focused on the far edge of the tank. “I think he’s right, Evie.”

“What?!”

“You’ve been through enough because of me. I mean, I’m never going to be human. And that’s just dangerous right now. What happens if they find out that you temporarily had a tail? You know what they want to do with me. And how hard the government is making everything. If you stay with me, what are the odds that they’ll start looking closely at your life? And what will they do if they realize that you had really odd behavior for the last six months? I couldn’t forgive myself if you got hurt just by being around me.”

“Don’t you think that should be my decision? Shouldn’t I be the one to determine if something is too dangerous for me?”

“Evie, of course you should. But this isn’t just about you. It’s about what type of risk I’m in, just by existing. It’s about what I’m willing to risk. And I’m not willing to risk you.”

Doug stepped directly behind Evie and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Evie, I know you two have dated for a long time. But, this -- all of this -- is so much more than what you should be dealing with. I know you are 18, but you haven’t even graduated yet. You have your whole life ahead of you.”

Evie floundered and stared in shock at her father. “And Zac doesn’t?”

Doug grimaced, his thoughts on the matter of Zac’s future clear on his face.

“Of course I have my whole life ahead of me. It just may not be one on land for awhile.”

Evie tugged Zac’s hands and held them to her abdomen, pulling Zac tightly against her legs. “You promise me right now, Zac Blakely. You promise me that you won’t give up on coming home. I don’t care if it takes years, don’t just vanish into the ocean forever.”

“Evie -” Zac sighed. “Okay. I promise. If there’s ever a time when it’s possible for me to come back, I will. But you need to promise me something, too. Promise that you won’t put your life on hold. Go to university, get your fashion degree, travel the world.” Zac swallowed hard and forced the next words out. “And if you - if you find someone - someone you could love and give you what you deserve, you take it.”

“Zac!”

“Promise me, Evie. Promise me you won’t give up on having a normal, human relationship. Someone who can give you the world, not just a coastline.” Zac glanced up in time to see Doug nod, thankfully.

“You can’t make me promise that. It’s my life and I’ll love who I’ll love.”

Zac smiled sadly at her and nodded. “Okay. But, if you do find someone that you can live your life with, know that I -- I’ll understand.”

Evie stood in a huff. She spun and glared at her father, eyes bright with anger and frustration.

Doug stepped out of her way and watched her storm out of the room.

“Thank you, Zac.”

Zac stared down at Doug’s feet. “I’d never let her go if I thought for one second that it was possible to make it work.”

“I know.” Doug paused and exhaled deeply through his nose. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way. I wish you were human. There’s no one I could ever trust with Evie’s safety and her heart more than I trust you. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

Zac blinked away the tears that had started to gather in the corners of his eyes. “Me too.”

Chapter Text

Dr. Ross angrily tossed his papers to the floor. He was more than half-tempted to burn all of their research on shear principle. What the government was asking for was beyond a point too far and he absolutely refused to do it. His only concern was that Zac wasn’t fully healed. 

The break above his fluke was barely set. Two weeks wasn’t nearly enough time for a fracture to heal, even if the healing was magically accelerated. It would be easier to determine how quickly they could expect him to be ready to go if they knew what that bone translated to. Did it shift into a long bone of his leg? Was it actually an ankle fracture? Or it could even be a tailbone fracture. The prognosis could be anywhere from 6 - 12 weeks in a human. At 2 weeks, there was not much that could be guaranteed. And it would be extremely hazardous still for him to shift forms with the broken bone.

He could almost feel the government breathing down his neck and on the verge of stripping Zac and all merpeople of their personhood. The moment they did that, they were out of time. He only hoped that Parliament would actually take the time to debate it, if just to give Zac more time to heal before they would have to sneak him out of the facility and to the ocean. He bent down and picked up all of the documents. 

He wasn’t going to do what they were asking for. It was abuse, plain and simple. But, he was pretty sure that the government was well aware of where the line was and knew that he would refuse. It was a heinous request designed to put him in a no-win position. Do it, and it’s abuse. Don’t do it, and it’s defying the government orders. Either way, it’s an invitation for them to step in and remove Zac from their care. He wasn’t sure how long he had to provide them an answer. Sure, the order said they wanted the experiment and data collection to begin by the end of the week. But Dr. Ross didn’t exactly trust that they would wait that long before doing something.

Dr. Ross had to tell the Blakelys at the very least. He’d leave it up to their discretion if he should tell Zac exactly what was happening. The last thing he wanted was for Zac to even think of consenting out of misplaced concern for Dr. Ross and the Marine Park. Consent under duress was not consent. He glared at the offensive letter and, in a fit of pique, fed it to the paper shredder. It would have been more satisfying to watch it burn, but listening to the whirring of the shredder destroy that monstrosity was enjoyable.

He rubbed both hands over his face and breathed deeply before picking up the office phone and calling the Blakelys. 

A slightly out of breath, feminine voice answered, “Dr. Ross.”

“I have some concerning news.” Before Lauren could ask for clarification, he continued, “The Marine Biodiversity Hub of the National Environmental Science Program has sent a request for some - invasive - data collection. Collection I am not willing to do, nor allow anyone else to do. The specifics are disturbing at best. They also have a request for several unethical experiments that wish for me to test him in isolation and separate him from any outside visitors, which would include you and your husband, his sister, the pod, or anyone that he trusts here. The rest of the experiments requested are looking for pain responses, exhaustion, stress tests and the like. Some of them are more deeply concerning than others. They have stated that if I do not comply, they will be forced to intervene and take him into custody.”

“What sort of data collection?”

“The type that’s beyond morally repugnant. I - I’m sorry. I - it’s too disgusting to even say out loud.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “I see. What is your recommendation?”

“He needs to be released and returned to the pod. Sooner rather than later. We theoretically have until the end of the week.”

“You said he probably won’t be strong enough to swim in the ocean for at least another week. And that was being extremely optimistic.”

“The break in his tail is not insignificant. But, the threat to his well-being here is more immediate than with the pod. They have wanted to take care of him since he was injured. I can’t imagine they’d allow any harm to come to him if they can help it.”

“So, we say goodbye and hope for the best?”

“It’s a much brighter outlook that way than if they ship him off to the University of Tasmania for further study.” Dr. Ross sneered at the last word. It wasn’t any form of study that he would approve.

“It’s going to be difficult sneaking him out of the Marine Park if he isn’t human-looking.”

“It’s going to be very difficult. Once they get wind that we are moving him, it will be a race to get him to an area that is safe for him to be released. It has to be somewhere the pod can come and collect him, but without any human boat traffic. We don’t need this being a spectacle with people getting in the way of us getting him in the waves.”

“Okay. I’ll tell Rob. Just let us know what we can do to help.”

“I will keep you updated.”

They kept the flurry of activity as far away from Zac as they could. They needed to secure all of their data, make backups, make backups of the backups. And they needed to plan a safe transport and release. The pod had volunteered one of their members to come and meet with him and arrange everything.

Dr. Ross nervously patted his hair down in the mirror again. He knew it was ridiculous, but he couldn’t help but want to make a good impression. He had just started down the hallway from his office when he heard a familiar voice.

“Ah. Dr. Ross. Glad I caught you.”

“Miss Santos!” He nervously fussed with his shirt, making sure it was tucked in. “I didn’t expect to see you here today.”

“You didn’t? I could have sworn the pod told you someone was coming to arrange things for Zac.”

“You - you’re -”

“A mermaid? Yes. I’m afraid so. We felt it would be less conspicuous if I was the one who came. I’m sorry if it takes away some of the shine on my thesis.”

Dr. Ross smiled bashfully at Rita. “Well, maybe a bit less research was needed. But, primary sources are always coveted in the scientific realm. I must admit there’s no better source on a thesis about dolphin behavior than the dolphins themselves.”

“Yes. I thought so, too. I just wish I had been able to actually cite them instead of struggling to find other sources to quote that weren’t nearly as in depth.” Rita shifted on her feet as the silence between them started to become awkward. “Well, I suppose we should get to discussing our plans for safely getting Zac back to the pod.”

“Yes. Of course! Right this way.” Dr. Ross broadly indicated with his right arm the direction to the large tank holding Zac.

When the tank came into view, it startled Rita for a moment. Seeing Zac in a tail and confined to a tank was viscerally disturbing. Logically, she knew it was with the best intentions, but the concept of any merperson being held in a tank in a research facility was terrifying. She forced a smile on her face and briskly ascended the stairs to the platform. “Good afternoon, Zac. I see you are still in one piece.”

Zac flipped around and swam close to the edge, careful not to splash water up the platform near Rita. “The one piece is all their doing. I certainly gave them a lot to put back together.”

“The fishermen did that.” Rita made sure to catch Zac’s eyes to properly convey the weight of her next words. “You cannot comprehend how much the pod owes you for what you did. You saved the pod. Only Neppy suffered more than superficial injuries. And she’s completely healed now thanks to your selfless actions. The whole pod is anxious for your return.”

“I thought I wasn’t healed enough to be released.” Zac tilted his head, the unasked question hung in the air.

“True. But, the pod only has so much patience and a very limited amount of trust. And that trust is about to be tested to its fullest. From my understanding, there is a plan to remove you from here and transport you to the University of Tasmania for further study. They have government funding and are doing everything in their power to undermine the Marine Park. I’m here to work with Dr. Ross, his team, and you to ensure we can get you back to the pod safely.”

“Back to the pod? Not my parents?”

Rita sighed deeply. “All things considered, it’s unlikely that your parents would be able to stop the government from forcibly taking you. They are days away, at most, from declaring merpeople unprotected wildlife.”

Zac ducked his head, brow furrowed in consternation. “You think this is going to be a permanent move.”

“Zac, I can’t guarantee anything. Longer term than you would like? Yes. But, I seriously doubt it will be permanent. The ruling on merpeoples’ status is patchwork at best. Every government around the world is working it out on their own. Places like Australia and the US are probably going to be inhospitable to us for the time being. But, there’s positive news out of Canada. Their Prime Minister seems to be on the side of declaring merpeople full citizens. It wouldn’t surprise me if you and Mimmi were both declared full Canadian citizens before the end of the month.”

“That won’t help now, though.”

“No. It won’t.”

“Mimmi talked to me about going to Canada with them. I guess this gives me no excuse to say no.”

Rita carefully squatted, knees kept close together and a distance away from the damp surface of the platform. “It was always a good opportunity. You deserve to see where you were born and the pod you come from. They can teach you magics that I don’t have access to.”

Zac nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t want to be separated from Mimmi. Not after finding each other again. I just -”

“You don’t want to leave the only family you’ve ever known. I get it. It’s not fair.”

Dr. Ross coughed quietly behind them, drawing Rita’s attention.

“Right. Well, Zac, Dr. Ross and I have some logistics to go over. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get you moved and back to the pod safely in the next couple of days.”

Chapter Text

In the end, they had to come up with several contingency plans, and quickly. Parliament had moved up the vote on merpeople personhood and it was not looking to be in their favor. Rita and Dr. Ross expected that they had four days at most to release Zac back into the ocean. Dr. Ross, however, had a feeling that the research scientists from the University of Tazmania would already have their paperwork completed and filed the moment Parliament sided with them on Zac’s status. Which gave them two and a half days. And the only reason they had that much time was because of the weekend. 

Which is what led them to this moment. Zac was fully out of the tank and laying on a gurney. Towels surrounded him as they gently patted him dry.

“I promise, I can dry myself off.”

“And I am going to remind you again, that we don’t know what that type of heat would do to your injured and still regrowing scales.”

Zac huffed. It was weird and awkward having people rub his body down. Very weird. It wasn’t even a massage. The moment the last drop of water was removed, he felt his body flow and transition. The trainers and techs backed up in surprise and kept staring when Zac was finally able to push himself into a true sitting position, clothes still the same as when he dove into the water all those weeks ago. 

“Well, these are rank.” He glanced over to Dr. Ross. “Do you think you could get me some clean clothes from my house? These are disgusting.”

“Of course. Now, let’s get you into X-ray and see how that fracture handled your transformation.”

Zac groaned, but obediently laid back on the gurney. “Not what I had planned for when I finally got my legs back.”

Dr. Ross chuckled. “Yes, well, I’d rather know if letting you up is even advisable before you injure yourself more.”

Zac glanced at the majority techs keeping more than their usual distance from him. “It’s just a bit of magic. I promise. You’ve seen Mimmi transform a bunch of times now.”

Chris patted him on the shoulder. “Yes, but for some reason, we’ve all just gotten used to you in one shape. They’ll get over themselves.” Chris grinned. “At least they only had the shock of seeing you with legs. My entire worldview was changed when I realized you weren’t just Mimmi’s friend who hung out at the Café and instead her merman brother.”

“Fair.”

It was considerably easier to deal with the X-ray when no one had to worry about him drying out. In a couple of minutes, they managed to get all the imaging they needed of his legs. They then wheeled him down the hall and had him go through the CT imager again and grabbed the ultrasound to be completely sure that there was no internal bleeding from his organs rearranging themselves.

Dr. Ross helped him sit up and pulled all of the files up on his tablet. “Well, there’s good news and not so great news.”

Zac sighed, he had figured as much.

“So, it looks like your internal wounds are all healed up. They didn’t reopen and from what we saw when we took off the wrap, we can remove the stitches. Your ankles, however, both show hairline fractures in them. I am not by any means an orthopedist, but I would hesitate to let you wander around and put too much weight on them.”

Zac grimaced. “Do you think I could walk a short distance? From the backdoor to a van? And maybe from the van to the shore?”

The wrinkles were prominent on Dr. Ross’s brow when he was debating a situation that wasn’t giving him the answers he wanted. “I suppose it would be okay to at least try.” Before Zac could hop down from the gurney, he placed one hand on his shoulder. “With assistance.”

Zac nodded, but kept his gaze to the floor. It was probably a good idea considering it had been so long since he had even had knees. He really didn’t need to faceplant in front of everyone. Chris and Karl came up on either side of him and looped their arms under his, allowing him to put his full weight on their shoulders.

Just as he put weight on his feet, his right knee buckled. “Shit!”

Chris didn’t let him fall and hoisted him back to vertical. “Did your ankle give out?”

“No. Just my knee. It hasn’t exactly existed for awhile. Gotta get used to the whole hinge joint thing again.”

Zac ignored Karl shaking his head and focused on getting fully onto two feet. This time, it was a sharp pain from his left ankle that had him breathing through his nose. He locked his knees and refused to give in. It would be infinitely easier to get back to the pod if he could walk out as a human instead of being carted out as a merman. He wasn’t exactly inconspicuous in that form and he knew it was the most concerning part of the whole plan. 

Dr. Ross was about to intervene and call the whole experiment off. But, Zac had to know.

“I’ve got this. Just let me try.”

Karl and Chris let him take his own weight and stand there. The pressure wasn’t the best and he could feel the pain starting to radiate from his ankles. “Can we try an ankle brace? Something that I can still move in, but will at least help hold it together?”

Dr. Ross sighed and nodded. “Okay. We can try.”

Zac had a feeling that if they didn’t need to get this plan together so quickly, the answer would have easily been no. He managed to get himself back on the gurney. He had to admit, it was nice having hips back. Zac felt significantly more confident being able to look directly into peoples’ eyes instead of up at them and incapable of even adjusting his position. The conversation was lighthearted, to an extent. At the very least, it seemed less awkward, at least on Zac’s end. The species divide was easy to ignore when he got to hang out in legs.

It didn’t take long for his parents to come rushing into the backroom. His mom wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight. It took her a couple of minutes to gather herself enough to pull back and look him in the eyes. “Oh, Zac. I’m so happy to see you doing better.” She sniffed and paused for a moment. “But, you really do smell fishy.”

Zac grinned, and chuckled, ducking his head down slightly in embarrassment. “Yeah. It’s why I asked Dr. Ross if you could bring me a change of clothes. These are really rough. Even magic can only do so much.”

Dr. Blakely held out the change of clothes in one and and clapped Zac’s shoulder with the other. “Why don’t you go ahead and get changed. When you’re ready, I also brought a couple of ankle braces from my practice.”

“Thanks, dad.”

The room vacated except for Chris. He politely turned away, but offered a steady hand for Zac to hold onto so that he could change his underwear and shorts. 

“Wow, that feels so much better. Thanks, man.”

Chris turned around and smiled. “Yeah, no problem. I’ll get your parents and Dr. Ross. Then we can try out those ankle braces.”

His parents must have been waiting just outside the door. He felt like he had blinked and they appeared out of thin air in front of him. He tried to smile and ignore how soon he was going to have to leave. He honestly had no clue when he would see them next. Would it be a couple of months? A couple of years? Would he meet someone and have a hatchling of his own to introduce to them? He was all of 17 and he couldn’t begin to imagine leaving for university, never mind the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay. 

“Well, let’s get these on and see how they do. Dr. Ross showed me your X-rays. If this doesn’t work, I can try to get a couple of walking boots. We probably won’t have much time to test them out beforehand, though.” Dr. Blakely managed a small, but encouraging smile and waved the braces at Zac’s ankles.

Zac obediently elevated his legs and let his father wrap his calves in the plastic splints and velcro them down. He gratefully accepted the help from his father’s open hands and slid off the gurney and stood, letting himself settle onto his now braced legs. 

“How does that feel?”

“Twinges, but it’s not as sharp.”

“Good. Want to try a couple of steps?”

Zac nodded and took a hesitant step forward, his dad slowly backing up and holding his hands, making sure he didn’t fall. It hurt. He couldn’t deny that. But it was bearable.

“You’re doing great, son. Let’s see if you can get to the door and back.”

It was slow going, but with his dad’s help, he was able to do it. By the end, he had sweat beading on his forehead, but he had done it. 

“I would want you to use crutches or a scooter if possible, but honestly, I think this might be the best option. You won’t be expected to go very far and really, anything else would be too noticeable at this point.” Dr. Blakely squeezed his son’s hands and turned to ask Dr. Ross, “So, when are we planning his escape?”

“Monday morning. Parliament has set the vote for 8:00am. We will send Chris and Karl out with a rescue van fully equipped with our water system at 7:45. Hopefully, anyone who has plans to steal Zac will assume we are taking him in that vehicle and follow them to the wrong drop off location. We will get Zac into a minivan and head to our location at 7:55.”

Dr. Blakely nodded. “Lauren and I will make a show of pulling up at 7:15, then.”

Dr. Ross approached and set a hand on Zac’s free shoulder. “Are you ready for this, Zac?”

Zac struggled to put on a brave face. “Yes.” He took a deep breath and looked into his parents' eyes. “No. I - I don’t know when I’ll see you again. I’m not ready to just leave.” He forced the tears that wanted to fall back.

Lauren rushed forward and in between Dr. Ross and her husband. She wrapped her arms around her son as he choked back a sob. “We’ll see you again. I swear it. Even if we have to move to Canada. I can open an art gallery anywhere in the world. I’m sure there are plenty of talented artists in Canada. And your father can practice medicine anywhere he likes. It might take some time, but this isn’t forever.”

Zac buried his face into his mother’s shoulder and let her shirt catch his tears.

Chapter Text

Mimmi wasn’t sure how else to help her brother. At least on land. Once they got him to the pod, they would be able to focus on next steps. But everything relied on getting him safely to Mako. She hoped that the moment he was in the water, the fight would be over. But she had a really bad feeling that the Australian government wouldn’t let them get to Mako so easily.

Glen, a young male Australian fur seal, barked at Mimmi. He had been found on the beach with a torn flipper and not able to get himself back into the water. He was large, but not yet old enough to be on his own and fending for his own territory. 

Mimmi quickly diverted and made her way over to his enclosure. “Hey, Glen. Feeling better today?”

Glen burbled and rumbled at her. 

“That’s good to hear. My brother is doing okay, thanks for asking.”

The seal pulled himself out of the water and bounced along the cement towards Mimmi, huffing and barking as he approached.

“Yeah, we are getting him ready to leave. He’s not really able to walk on his own. He still has a fracture that isn’t healed. But, the pod can take care of him.”

Glen tilted his head up for Mimmi to scratch under his chin. “You know I can’t pet you while you’re wet.” Mimmi used her powers to dry off his face when it was clear that he wasn’t giving up. She dug her fingers in to a space beneath his jaw and Glen grunted in pleasure. Mimmi giggled when he closed his eyes and pressed his chin into her hand. 

He snorted at her, hot breath puffing over her wrist.

“You would do that for us? Are you sure?”

Glen burbled in affirmation. 

Mimmi held back tears. “Thank you! Oh, thank you so much. I promise the pod will make sure you are taken care of. And we will find your bob and get you back to your mom. I’m sure she’s been worried sick about you.”

Mimmi darted into the Marine Park’s hospital bright and early. “Dr. Ross!”

The morning shift was already awake and bustling around, getting ready to slip Zac out directly under the Australian government’s nose. Dr. Ross jogged around the corner, hair disheveled and clothes rumpled. “Mimmi! What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong. But, we might be able to sell this better if you’re okay with it. Glen said he’s ready to leave. And the Mako pod would happily make sure that he got home. So, if you agree, we can load Glen into the van. Let whoever is watching from the University of Tasmania and the government see Chris, Karl, and the team load him in. As long as they don’t get a good look, they should hopefully assume it’s Zac and not a seal –”

“Glen offered to do this?”

Mimmi smiled and nodded quickly. “He overheard quite a bit from his enclosure. He said he’d be happy to help.”

Dr. Ross chuckled. “I am going to miss having you here to translate for us. It hasn’t been very long, but I know your expertise will be sorely missed. Glen is still young. Without his bob, I’d be uncomfortable sending him out in the open ocean. He has a couple more years of growing before he could take a territory of his own and maintain a harem.” He held up his hand to forestall Mimmi’s protests. “But, if the Mako pod promises to look after him and get him back where he belongs for proper raising, I will gladly accept his help.”

It was a very busy morning. Bright and insultingly early, the sling was in the water and hoisting Zac out of the tank. The medical team was doing one last examination of him in his true form. Dr. Ross was closely monitoring, mouth pinched.

“I don’t like this. I really don’t like rushing you out before your bones are fully healed. The amount of damage you might do to yourself is concerning. Hell, we could be putting you in even more danger transporting you in human form and having you walk to the shore.” Dr. Ross rubbed his eyes. “Damn those bastards straight to hell.”

Zac’s nerves were so on edge that his ears started rumbling, filling his head with the uncomfortable sensation and noise, drowning out his thoughts. “I have to go.”

Dr. Ross patted his shoulder. “I know, kiddo. I know.”

“Dr. Ross!” One of the vet techs came running around the corner. “Dr. Ross! There are TV crews outside.”

“Already?” Dr. Ross flipped his wrist over to check his watch. “It’s barely half past 5.”

“Should we go now?”

Dr. Ross shook his head. “Not yet. Someone turn on the Parliament streaming channel. The special session wasn’t supposed to start for another hour.”

The livestream came up on one of the monitors showing the chambers and a vote on the screen. The House vote was nearly complete at 143-4 to pass their resolution against merpeople personhood. The broadcast changed to split screen as the Senate brought the vote to their floor almost simultaneously as the House finished.

The Honorable Linda Jean Burney stood as the vote was about to be called. “We have the right to be heard and the matter to be debated on the floor. Merpeople should be counted as Indigenous People. They have been living off the Gold Coast for as long as oral traditions have existed. They clearly have their own culture, language, and beliefs. They predate European colonization. These facts mean that they MUST be included in section 116A of the 2010 report. Subsequently, they should be grandfathered in to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Act of 2013 . The Mermaid Council should be invited to participate in the Referendum Council as part of the advisory committee to provide their recommendations to Prime Minister Turnbull. This action is in direct violation of the work of the Joint Select Committee.”

“We need to get a move on. Get Glen loaded up and make a show of it.”