AEGIS: noun- the protection, backing, or support of a particular person or organization.
A reader by the name of Buffyfan1992 actually requested something with Maddie/Ryn. Originally, I planned to use Ben for this, especially since the promo showed mostly him at odds with Xander. But after finding out in the last episode that Maddie and Xander once had a thing, I felt like Maddie may be a better choice.
Not to mention, most of my stuff (most) has so far been Ben, Ryn, and Maddie together with very little Ryn and Maddie alone. Also, I don't think I've done a single work with Xander in it yet. Time to fix both those things.
This is still pre-polymarine, but Ben is absent.
Plus, I wanted to show I do listen to requests.
Enjoy.
It had been inevitable.
Xander was no fool. He would have figured out what Ryn was eventually. She learned more about being human every day, but some things she couldn't change. Her striking cerulean eyes for one, a trait so uncommon as to arouse suspicion. The curious way she watched everything, it would be years before that disappeared, if it ever did.
No, Xander would have figured out Maddie's "friend from college" wasn't so human as she appeared.
At least Xander would have taken time to put the pieces together, time Ryn could have used to adapt further. Hopefully one day being able to fully deflect suspicions.
Unfortunately, this was ruined when Ryn herself indirectly confessed to Xander. It wasn't Ryn's fault, really. All she wanted was to apologize on her sister and people's behalf for the death of Xander's father.
On one hand, it was a terribly stupid mistake. On the other, a sweet act of goodwill on Ryn's part.
At the time, Maddie thought little of it. Xander was angry for Ben and Maddie having lied to him but he chose to storm off in anger. Maddie later helped him onto his father's… no, his boat, for the night. Once he'd slept it off, Maddie thought that would be the end of it. He may still be mad, but he'd come around and understand.
Too bad Maddie badly underestimated the man's feelings.
Unsure what to do with Ryn during the day, Maddie decided to bring Ryn with her to the rescue center. It had been a slow day, and Ryn was helpful with a few of the day to day chores Maddie had on her to-do list.
It had to be thanks to some kind of higher power that allowed Maddie to see the glint of metal in the setting sun's light, perhaps even sheer dumb luck. The fact that Maddie saw it when she did was the only reason Ryn wasn't killed on the spot.
"Ryn!" Maddie tackled Ryn at the last possible second. The shot rang out, striking the sheet metal wall exactly where Ryn had been standing.
Maddie wasted no time in grabbing Ryn by the waist and jerked her away just before another round was fired. Again, barely missing the mermaid.
Outside the center was far too open, Maddie and Ryn would never make it to the car in time. Out of options, Maddie pulled Ryn through the doors of the main building, barely dodging a third bullet. Once inside, she locked the doors and had Ryn push a desk against it for good measure. It wasn't the only way in, but it was the most obvious and the one they just used.
Taking out her phone, Maddie attempted to call for help, but discovered to her horror that she'd forgotten to charge the battery the night before. The charger in their car was way too far, and the extra one that was often kept here was missing as well. Jerry probably borrowed it and forgot to put the damn thing back, again.
Ryn and Maddie were on their own.
Maddie highly doubted it was the Navy coming for them. Their attacker was shooting to kill, not capture. The military would do something like come at their home in the night, not their place of work where there could be potential witnesses. The fact that nobody had already broken down the door to get to the mermaid was yet another strike against the Navy theory.
This had to be somebody else. Either some lunatic, or someone that knew Ryn's identity. All of the bullets had flown right at her, not a single one seemed to be aimed at Maddie.
If Ryn was indeed the target, that left a very thin list of people. Helen and Ben were eliminated right off the bad. Neither could it be Maddie's father, he was too good with firearms to miss this many times in a row. That only left…
A disgusting thought came to mind just then, one Maddie hoped she was wrong about.
No, no, there was no way it could be Xander. Unless he'd told somebody else… which was nigh impossible. Who would have believed him save his own fishing crew? They didn't even want to be dragged along on his ill-advised mermaid hunt.
"Ryn, I need you to stay here and hide." Maddie thought about their options. This was a bad plan, but it was all she had. "I was supposed to text Ben before we headed back home. When I don't answer, he'll come running."
Ryn listened but was confused until she saw Maddie heading toward the back door.
"No." Ryn seized Maddie by the arm, softly, but enough to stop the woman in her tracks. "No."
"I know who it is." Maddie admitted, unwilling to look Ryn in the eye. "I'm gonna try to talk him down. But I need you to stay out of sight, just in case."
"Danger." Ryn refused to let go.
"Ryn." Maddie turned around and put a hand on each of Ryn's shoulders, flashing a smile that Maddie hoped reassured the mermaid. It was up for debate if it actually succeeded. "Trust me. Let me handle this."
Ryn trusted Maddie, both human and mermaid knew that, but Ryn had become suspiciously protective of the couple since she returned from the ocean. A sentiment shared by both Maddie and Ben. Funny how nobody had yet to mention this out loud.
After an internal debate that must have been epic, Ryn released Maddie's limb and allowed her to walk out the door. Maddie could tell it was taking every ounce of Ryn's willpower not to chase after her, danger or no.
Maddie was afraid, somebody had just been shooting in her direction a few minutes ago. Yet this was something she needed to do if Ryn was going to be making it out of here. This would be a lot easier if it was who Maddie thought, and at the same time it would be infinitely harder to stomach.
"Where is she, Maddie?"
That voice, the same one she'd heard countless times in the past, was like the blow of a hammer to Maddie's gut. She'd hoped, hoped, and hoped again that she was wrong, that it was somebody else after Ryn. It couldn't possibly be Xander.
Maddie's worst fears were realized in that moment when she turned around to find Xander, rifle braced in the crook of his arm.
"Damn it, Maddie." Xander sighed, voice filled with a concern that Maddie once would have found touching. "I almost hit you. I didn't hit you, did I?"
"No, you didn't." Maddie eyed the man with caution. The gun was in his hands but angled down. A good omen, if Xander had meant Maddie harm then the weapon would be pointed at her right now. "Xander, you almost killed Ryn."
"That's kinda the point." After Xander said that, Maddie had to resist the intense urge to slap some sense into him. Good thing he was barely out of reach, otherwise she would have on reflex.
Instead of physically, Maddie responded verbally with the only word she could come up with. "Why?"
"Seriously?" Xander laughed, actually laughed. "Do I really need to explain it?"
"Uh… yeah." Maddie was in utter disbelief. "That might be a bit helpful."
"I can understand." Xander nodded, looking off in the distance. "I understand, you haven't seen them yet. All your time around them has been on land. And that friend of yours, Ryn, she's pretty cute. I'll give you that one, but you have no idea what they're really like."
"What?" Now Maddie was getting confused.
"They're animals, Maddie." Xander was becoming animated now. "No, no. Not animals. At least animals you can tell what they are. These mermaids, they may look human, try to act human, but they're not. They're monsters."
"They're not monsters!" Maddie snapped. Since Ryn wasn't here to plead the case of her people and herself, Maddie was just going to have to do it for her.
Xander's words eerily reminded Maddie of the other day when Ben had said Ryn was more animal than human. At least it hadn't been meant entirely as an insult. They were marine biologists, it was their job to know and study the fauna of the ocean. Being more animal wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but for some reason, Ryn wanted desperately to be more like them. It was for this very reason that Ryn had taken the comment so hard.
Insulting or not, it wasn't Ben's fault. He was grieving and Ryn was quickly able to understand that. It was to Maddie's immense relief that her boyfriend and the mermaid were later able to talk it out and make up. She would have loved to have been there for it, but it had been a personal moment between the two and Maddie saw no fault in letting them have it.
Being called an animal by a marine biologist was one thing, being called a monster by a fisherman? There was only one way that could be taken.
"You weren't there!" Xander stepped up to screaming. "You didn't see what they did to my dad, what they tried to do to all of us! We weren't even people to them!"
"Did you ever stop to think what you were doing out there?" Maddie yelled right back. "You went out there for the sole purpose of hunting them. You intruded on their home, tried to hurt them, and you wonder why they fought back?"
This was thin ice Maddie was treading on. Xander was already emotional, and mashing his buttons was not going to help matters, but Maddie was beginning to lose her cool.
"We didn't even do anything!" All the while Xander yelled, he had yet to raise the gun. Maddie wondered how long it would be until he did. "We were leaving, and they attacked anyway!"
"It doesn't matter what you did or didn't do. What matters is what you were planning to do!"
"They murdered my dad!"
"It was your mermaid hunt, you dragged them all out there that night. Sean died because of you!"
The instant the words passed Maddie's lips, she knew it had been a horrible mistake. Xander recoiled as if struck, mouth open to speak but nothing coming out. That had been the lowest of blows, but she hadn't been able to stop it in time.
Silence overtook the dock. Nobody dared speak, the tension thicker than the densest harbor fog. Neither human was able to form words, Maddie too afraid, Xander too stunned.
"Maddie!" The impromptu forced calm was shattered with the arrival of Ryn around the corner beside Maddie.
Xander sobered up the moment he caught sight of his quarry, the rifle coming up.
Xander was too close this time to try to pull Ryn away like before, neither was there any cover they could dive behind. Maddie was forced to take an entirely different, and far more potentially deadly option.
Moving with lightning swift reflexes, Maddie grabbed Ryn and twirled them around so that the mermaid was at her back. Arms thrown out wide, Maddie held Ryn behind her, Maddie's own body being used as a shield for the smaller framed female.
The mermaid tried to get out from behind her, but Maddie's arms were not letting her do so. Ryn could have if she used her enormous strength to forcibly move Maddie, but that was something Ryn was loathe to do.
"Maddie, move." Xander's finger was on the trigger, but he'd yet to pull it.
"No."
"Move."
"Not a chance."
"Get out of the way!"
"No!"
"Maddie…" Ryn tried to speak, hands touching Maddie's shoulders.
"You shut up!" Xander roared at Ryn.
"Don't talk to her like that!" Maddie bristled, suddenly feeling even more defensive of the mermaid now that she was right there with them. "She's done nothing to deserve it. Nothing to deserve being hunted like a dog!"
"Don't you get what she is?" Xander advanced, he was close now. Close enough for Maddie to make a grab for the gun, but she knew better than to do that. At this range, and if Maddie tried, he'd have direct line of sight on Ryn for those seconds it would take Maddie to lunge at him. "What they can do?"
Maddie risked a brief glance over her shoulder. She could just barely see Ryn out of her peripheral, but Maddie could feel the mermaid's pull on her shoulders. Ryn wanted Maddie to move but wasn't willing to do it by force. Didn't she understand Maddie was the only thing stopping Xander from shooting her dead? If Maddie wasn't standing right in the path of…
Oh.
"I know exactly what she is." Maddie returned her eyes to Xander.
A person in a world completely alien to everything she'd ever known, frightened at the prospect of one of the few humans who actually cared about her coming to harm. An innocent mermaid who wanted to be more human, to stay here with people she in turn cared for.
Oh, yes. Maddie knew exactly what Ryn was, and Maddie was perfectly okay with laying her own life down on the line to see her protected.
"And if you want her, you're going to have to go through me."
Before Xander could respond, Maddie reached out to grip the barrel of the rifle, slowly so she wouldn't spook Xander into accidentally firing. Maneuvering the muzzle, Maddie made sure it was pointed right at her sternum.
"Go ahead." Maddie goaded, her glare never relenting for an instant. "Pull the trigger. Shoot me. You might be able to shoot through me, but I'm not just going to stand by and let you hurt Ryn."
Maddie felt Ryn's grip on her shoulders tighten, almost painfully. Ryn made no sound, none of her customary hisses or screeches, but her terror was obvious.
"Maddie…" Xander trailed off, eyes darting between his gun and Maddie.
"Do it." Maddie was way past standing on thin ice now. This was more like tap dancing on said thin ice. "Isn't this what you wanted? To kill them? To kill Ryn? If you want to do that, you're going to have to kill me too."
Xander looked panicked, like he couldn't decide what to think at this turn of events.
Maddie couldn't read his mind, but she had a feeling she knew what was going through his mind. Likely the same thing going through her own. Memories of years ago, thoughts of times before Ben. Happy times, sure, but nothing like what Maddie shared with Ben.
Maddie meant it the other night when she said that was a long time ago, but how valuable were those memories to Xander over his hatred and craving for vengeance?
Just when Maddie began to think she'd made the wrong choice, Xander jerked the rifle away and let out an anguished scream to the heavens. Maddie's heart ached for him, but she had bigger concerns at the moment.
"Let's go." Maddie whispered to Ryn, guiding her toward the car. Making sure to keep herself between Ryn and Xander just in case he changed his mind.
If Xander tried to apologize or say anymore, Maddie didn't know. She didn't wait around to find out the former or the latter.
Upon reaching the vehicle, Maddie and Ryn wasted no more time and jumped in. Maddie turned the key and peeled out of the parking lot at breakneck speed. On the drive home, she was sure she'd been going way over the speed limit, but all she could think about was getting Ryn somewhere safe.
It wasn't until they were back at Ben's place, Ben himself still absent, that Maddie allowed herself to relax. The last thing she managed to do was to kill the engine before the adrenaline wore off and reality caught back up with her.
"Oh, my god." Maddie mumbled. Her hands, still clutching the steering wheel, shook violently. "Did I just…"
Maddie didn't think she'd ever been that close to death before. One tiny twitch of Xander's finger, and she would have been gone. It was her choice to be in the line of fire, and Maddie would have done the same again, but at the time she'd been unable to think of the consequences. Try as she might, Maddie all but couldn't process this piece of information.
Reaching over, Ryn pried Maddie's white knuckled grip off the steering wheel as gently as she could manage. Her body leaning across the console to rest her cheek against Maddie's chest, right over where the muzzle had been pointed.
Maddie wasted no time in throwing her arms around the other female.
"Not for Ryn." Ryn's voice was muffled in Maddie's chest, her ears barely able to catch it. Before Maddie could ask what she meant, the mermaid contained. "No die for Ryn."
"Ryn…"
"Maddie too important." Ryn pressed her cheek to Maddie's body. "Cannot die."
Maddie dearly wished she could say something, anything, but no words could come. If needed, Maddie would do it all again without hesitation. She had a feeling Ben would do the same if the situation called for it. How was Maddie supposed to tell Ryn that?
Maddie couldn't, and there was no point in trying to say something that coulnd't be said. Instead of trying to talk, Maddie pulled Ryn closer, tightening her hold on the mermaid that had come to mean so much to her.
There was going to be hell to pay with Xander, especially once Ben found out what his friend had attempted to do, but for now Ryn was alright, and that's all that mattered.
I had the nagging idea for this one and it just wouldn't let me go so, thanks to some free time, I decided to go ahead and write it out. Much like 'Shattered Bond', I'm pretty sure the next episode will be something completely different. Especially since all the moments where Xander is involved show him coming into conflict with Ben. Oh well, the more Siren works the merrier. Leave a comment/review and let me know how I did.