Hey, this is a redone version, somewhat, of the story that i did before, and thanks to an anonymous review, i had to take it down and make some changes to it, but hope you like it otherwise, and mistakes that are made are mine, thank you! the vacation i describe is something i did from Christmas to New Years in december in 2011!

warning: triggers for kidnapping, violence

disclaimer: don't own anyone except OC!

Chapter 1: redeem us from our solemn hour*

"Hey, why don't you sit over here, Natasha?" I asked as she was getting her lunch from the mermaid grill. My name is Alice Valentine Donovan. I'm 23 years old and I am on vacation with my friends on a cruise to the Bahamas. Natasha and I have been friends for some number of years and we met while she was on a beach, I was waiting for an old friend of mine from high school and she somehow came over and we started talking. Eventually she offered me a job at an agency called SHEILD and I took the opportunity. I worked with shield for a number of years and eventually, they allowed us some vacation time along with many of our friends, including Jane Foster, a scientist, or an astrophysicist to be specific, Pepper Potts, Darcy Lewis, Betty Ross, and we decided to go on a carnival cruise.

It was called the carnival 'Pride'. We had some fun on it, including having dinner at a restaurant that was below our deck floor, singing karaoke at the butterfly lounge and starry night café. Natasha sat down at a table on the lido deck and we just observed the majesty of the ocean. "And they said that it was dangerous for women to be out in the ocean because of mating season for mermen. There's no such thing as mermen, its part of mythology!" Natasha scoffed. I remembered people talking about how it was dangerous for women to be out on the ocean for the first 6 months due to the mating season of the mermen. I studied some things on mermen prior to going on this vacation: From January to the end of June, mating season would be upon them, and they would need to find their mate and claim her before the end of June. They first claim their mates by biting them on the neck, like a damn vampire, then taking to a place where it would be free of people, and after caring for and wooing their mates, they make love with them, sealing the mating bond between merman and mate. Natasha thought that it was silly when I told her about this. But I remembered that we took a vacation on the end of April and early May, so we had to be vigilant. Pepper and Darcy came to the table with their food and we started talking about the 'mythical creatures' that were the mermen.

After we talked and ate for a while, Natasha decided to do a wine tasting on the ship, Pepper decided to look around, and I decided to go to the Poseidon deck to kind of relax in the sun, as I was sitting there, I noticed a man looking at the sun, a very beautiful one at that. He had a pair of shorts on and was catching some rays, looking relaxed, and when he got up, he looked to be maybe 6'2 or 6'3, skin white as snow, hair black as the night sky that went to his shoulders, and he caught me staring at him, and he had the most gorgeous green eyes that I had ever seen in my life and a face that looked like an angel sculpted his face and body, looking slender, yet showing some muscle. I looked down embarrassed that he caught me staring at him, and he just smiled warmly at me and walked along his way down a staircase. "Who was that man? I've never seen him around before." I said to myself as I continued to look around the ocean. I decided to get some ice cream when I bumped into Jane, who said she had seen someone strange, yet, beautiful on the ship. I mentioned that I saw someone too and she didn't remember seeing him on the ship before, leading to the fact that something strange was going on, and I remembered that it was still mating season for the mermen, but they couldn't possibly be on the ship, they only were in water, so that set my senses to red alert for a little bit, so we got our ice cream and went to find the others, who were in the casino gambling. I wasn't much of a gambler, but that didn't mean that I wasn't going to have fun with the slots. Natasha was watching Pepper play on the cat's slots while Darcy was playing blackjack.


Tony POV

I watched the woman play on the slot machines with the red head watching, and she was beautiful! Thor and Loki told me that they had found their mates by their scent, and I was happy for them that they were going to be still retaining our humanity instead of turning into bloodthirsty monsters. We all were human once, and from what Thor and Loki told me along with the others, someone was stupid enough to insult a goddess, and as punishment, we were turned into mermen and forced to live underwater for some time, but over the course of centuries, we found that we could be on human land again, but sometimes, we needed to be back underwater within the few days we would have. Mating season for us had been terrible, not finding the mates that our instincts guided us to. I remembered when Steve found his mate.

It was joyous for all of us because one of us would still retain our humanity while cherishing his mate and offspring. I looked at mine, and she smelled divine! Like the sweetest of flowers and fruit rolled into a woman who would be perfect for me and would have my offspring. My instincts screamed for me to take her, but I, like my other companions, needed to be patient with the timing. Loki walked up to me and sat on a chair next to me, ordering a martini. "Do you see that woman over there, my mate, the one who will bear my children?" he asked as he pointed out his mate, who was standing next to another woman who had dark blonde hair and wore a shirt that showed off the form of her chest perfectly. "Yeah, I see her, she's pretty." I said. Loki looked at me like a said an insult to him. "Pretty is an insult, a mockery compared to her beauty. I feel a need to claim her, but we need to be flawless with the timing." He said noticing something growing in his pants. He was right about that, we needed to be flawless with the timing, especially with people around us, oblivious to what we are.


Alice POV

We went on like this throughout a few minutes of playing, until we decided to go to our staterooms and dress up for dinner, which called for formal clothes. I decided to wear a black short-sleeved button down blouse with a skirt and tights along with a pair of shoes that were not really heels but made me a little taller. Natasha looked beautiful in a black dress that had been cut at the waist, showing off her thighs perfectly. Jane had her hair in a bun that nearly went to the top of her head, while wearing a dress that would have even actresses and other women green with envy. Betty and Darcy came up to us wearing blouses and dress pants, and Pepper wore a dress that didn't have a back, and we were ready for dinner.

We got to a restaurant that had been two floors down from our staterooms and sat down at our table, waiting for our waiter to get here and take our orders. Natasha and I had tea while Darcy had ordered a martini and Pepper and Betty had water. I looked around to see who was there, I saw a few families, some couples, and I saw the man from the Poseidon deck earlier and he was with a few other guys at another table. Natasha noticed this and tapped me on the shoulder. "I have seen the guy with the sandy blonde hair, really cute, but it feels weird when he watches me, as if he wants to eat me or something like that." She said shuddering. The guy I had seen on the Poseidon deck looked at me again and just looked at me like he had never seen another woman before and then looked as if he was sick. 'I wonder what's wrong with him.' I thought to myself as our main dishes came. We ate for a while and we decided to change clothes and catch a show at the Taj Mahal theatre, and the show had to do with music throughout the years, and the girls cheered when it came to the part with the 'macho macho man' song that I thought was from the 70's. As we were walking to the Da Vinci on the ship after the show, it was dark outside, so we watched the night sky for a little bit.


Loki POV

I saw my mate just sitting there, looking out the window in the night sky; I was dazzled by her scent. The smell of roses, chocolate and pure jasmine made up the scents of my mate. She looked lonely just sitting there. It made me sad that she was feeling this way, but I needed to control my inner instincts in order for me to not scare her. "Hey Loki, gazing at your mate, are you?" Bruce asked. "Yes, it's taking every ounce of strength in me not to claim her as my own, we need to take our mates, we can't waste another mating season just standing there gazing at them." I said.

I lived longer than anyone else, being maybe 1049 years old, Thor was even older than I was, but we stuck together until we could find other mermen like us. "Don't worry buddy, we all thought about claiming them, and trust me, we all want to get this over with, try and wait maybe a few more minutes, then we can claim them, but not without something happening on the ship, say, the lights go out?" Bruce said. Because we were mermen, we had powers to manipulate electricity, so I smiled knowing that it was time to claim them, but we needed the lights off in order to do so. 'Whoever you are my mate, know that I will have you and no one else will grace my eyes.' I vowed as my mate left with her friends.


Third person POV

As they were going upstairs to take some pictures, with Darcy and Jane looking pretty with the photos, and the other guests just mingling around on the ship, all of the lights suddenly went out on the whole ship, causing some guests to scream and gasp in surprise. Little children were crying over being in the dark and some people were annoyed that it was happening, so the crew offered to have flashlights ready for the guests to take with them to make sure they knew where they were going as the emergency lights came on.


Alice POV

It was weird that all of a sudden the lights went out on the ship, but I hoped that they would get the lights back on in time for the other events to come on without any hitches. "Well, this is somewhat eventful!" Pepper said annoyed. Darcy wasn't exactly a fan of being in the dark, so we kept her close to make sure she was safe. We went up to the mermaid grill and waited for when the lights would come back on. "So, quite a vacation, eh?" Jane said with all of us nodding and sighing in agreement. "Not what we all had in mind, but at least its better than sitting in an office all day long, or going to missions nonstop looking for some bad guys to take down." Natasha said adjusting herself on the chair. I agreed with her on that one because we especially went to a mission in Budapest that still had both of us making noises of annoyance about that mission. We then heard some strange growling noises coming from the ship. "What the holy fuck was that?" Darcy asked still scared. "I have no idea. But I know it wasn't my stomach." I said with my senses on red alert over the noises. We heard the growling along with some hissing, and we started getting scared senseless. "Come out whoever you all are! This isn't funny!" Jane shouted hoping that the noises would stop. They didn't stop, it just continued on from there. "Uh, Alice, how long did you say a merman's mating season is supposed to last?" Betty asked frightened out of her wits. Natasha was just about to tell her there was no such things as mermen but I answered for her. "It's supposed to last from January to the end of June, we are near the end of April, and so that means mating season is still on for them. They first claim their mates by biting them on their neck, leaving a mark on them. After some time in a secluded place, they care for and woo their mates until they make love with them, sealing the bond." I said confirming what I was saying as the hissing continued.

Natasha was just about to yell at me until I turned my flashlight on to see who or what was making that noise and when I did, it was not a sight I never thought I would see: the dark haired guy from the Poseidon deck and restaurant was looking at me, looking like he was wanting to eat me by baring his teeth, which consisted of fangs, and his eyes looked more lustful and fierce than the peaceful emerald green eyes that I had seen. I looked around more and saw a few more of those men looking us like we were snacks! "We're completely surrounded! How do we get away!?" Jane asked nearly screaming in terror. "We are going to have to run. Wait for my signal and run, no questions, just run." I said, knowing that we were facing the very 'mythological creatures' knowing that we might be dinner. "Ready…" I paused for a moment as the mermen were looking at us. "RUN!" I screamed making a run for it, with the mermen chasing us in pursuit all over the ship. We ran like we were going to die, throwing everything we could at them, trying to slow them down as they were chasing us. I separated from my friends and ran for the Taj Mahal theatre with Jane behind me.


Natasha POV

I had never felt so scared in all of my life. I thought what Alice had said about the men actually being mermen were myth, but as she was telling us, I was near hysterics because what she was saying was actually true. I saw the sandy blonde haired guy behind me and he was still chasing me, the crew members tried to stop him, but he was strong, so to him, they were like obstacles that needed to be in the way. I ran at the shops, hoping to somehow find something to throw at him, I went to a souvenir store and threw some key chains, clothing, everything that I can find at him until as I got to the entrance, he jumped me and I felt a searing pain at my neck and I realized that he was biting me. "What are you!?" I asked in shock and pain from the bite. He lifted his head for a moment and I was too scared to move. "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you, never." He vowed as he bit me again, and before I was knocked out, my last thought was this, 'Alice was right, she was fucking right.' And I was out, awaiting my death.


Third person POV

The women were being chased throughout the ship with the mermen in pursuit of them. Betty tried to outrun Bruce who was chasing her, until she came upon a dead end, and he bit her, marking her as his to cherish and care for. Pepper had one chasing her throughout the main floor of the deck, eventually getting to the casino, where she threw the glasses and dice and chairs at him, hoping that it would stagger him long enough to find a crew member to help her. But Tony was too fast for her and as she tried to get away again, Tony had grabbed her foot, making her fall down.


Pepper POV

"Please, don't hurt me, please!" I yelled, nearly going into hysterics because I thought that I was going to die by this handsome man that I had seen in the butterfly lounge before. He looked at me and kissed me where my neck and shoulder were connected. "I won't hurt you, my mate. Try to trust me." He said to me in a reassuring tone. "'Mate?' What are you talking ab-OH, MY GOD! GET OFF!" I screamed as he bit me on my neck hard. "ALICE, WHERE ARE YOU!?" I screamed hoping that she would find me and get me away from him, and I was overjoyed upon seeing her, but I saw that a tall blonde and a dark haired man were both chasing Alice and Jane, and within minutes, I was out.


Alice POV

I saw Pepper on the casino ground, and although I would've tried to help her, it would've been in vain because by the time we got to her, she was already knocked out cold due to the bite one merman was giving her. "We need to get to the theatre!" Jane shouted as we were heading up some stairs. We got to the theatre and as the other people were getting away from both of the men; a few security people came up and tried to restrain them, only to be knocked down silly by the men. I and Jane went to the stairs to try and get to higher ground just as they were on the stage looking for us, and we were both hiding, trying to keep quiet. "Pepper… what happened to her?" Jane asked her voice cracking and shaking. "Pepper was claimed, I imagine that Natasha might be claimed too, along with Darcy, Betty…" I said solemnly, my throat feeling like I swallowed sand. Jane and I cried silently while trying to be quiet so that the two men couldn't find us. But, something happened, that I never thought could happen: I had felt the urge to sneeze. "Oh, god, not now, not now!" I said to myself, hoping that what was happening would subside long enough for us to get away.


Loki POV

I knew my mate was in this theatre, but where was she? I and Thor looked around the place to make sure they were there for us to finally claim as our own. "Do you see them, Thor?" I demanded. "No, but I smell my mate, they have to be in here!" he boomed, knowing that he could smell his mate's scent as I could smell mine. She smelled heavenly, like it was calming me and heating my blood immensely. I had to make her mine before it would be too late.

Thousands of years passed since being turned into a merman and I was not about to live another thousands of years as a bloodthirsty monster because I didn't claim my mate! "A-a-a-achoo!" I heard what sounded like my mate sneezing, and I was so stupid not to realize that she was on the upper floor of the theatre. 'Did you think you would hide from me, my mate?' I thought as I felt an evil grin grace my features. "Thor, she's on the upper floor!" I said after hearing her sneeze. "SHIT, RUN!" I heard my mate yelling as she was trying yet again to get away from me, so I used my strength to jump onto the upper floors and stopped my mate and her friend in their tracks.


Alice POV

I saw the man standing in front of me as I skidded and fell to the floor, trying to get away, and as we tried, the big blonde man who was also chasing us was behind us, and even if we could get away, we wouldn't go far. As Jane had hit the blonde man with her purse hard enough to stagger him, she ran with him in pursuit of her and as I tried to get away, the dark haired man caught me from behind, having me fall flat on my face and as he turned me to face him, I got scared of him to death. "Please don't hurt me, please!" I begged hoping that he would let me go.

He just stroked my face with his long fingers and pressed some kisses gently on my face. "I won't hurt you, you are my mate, I would rather suffer a thousand tortures than hurt you in any way." He said as if he was afraid of himself. I was at first confused about this, but it took me milliseconds to realize that he was a fucking merman! "Oh, my… you're a mer-OH GOD, NO!" I screamed as he bit me on my neck. The last thing I heard before I was knocked out was Jane's scream, sadly confirming for me that she was claimed by the blonde merman. Oh, god, please help us all, please.


Third person POV

As the mermen finally had their mates, they all went out to the deck and dove underwater, taking their mates with them. As they got to a far away enough distance, they teleported over somewhere they would tend to their mates, and eventually court them properly. They went to a mansion where it was by the ocean and they took their mates to separate rooms, which in some of them, had pool passages to the ocean. Fandral claimed his mate when she tried to use a beer bottle as a weapon in the Starry night café, but he dodged it and bit her on a table. They all took their mates upstairs to their rooms, getting some cloths and water to clean their bites, which was a first step into their mating.


Loki POV

I finally had my mate! It was the most intoxicating feeling I ever experienced and never hope to lose again. As I set her gently on my, no our bed, I examined my mark, and scolded at myself when I realized that I bit her a little too hard, causing her to bleed a little bit. I grabbed the cloth and went to the bathroom to wet it, grabbing a bottle of rubbing alcohol on the way, and put a little bit of it on there. I put the wet cloth on the bite and although she winced a little, she was still sleeping peacefully. As I finished, drying the bite with a fresh dry cloth, I took her in my arms, knowing that the safest place for her is in my bed with me, and I hoped that our children would be as beautiful as her, so I rubbed her back in circles, singing in an old norse language that my mother would sing to me before I would sleep better or have my fears gone within minutes. As I was singing, the only thing on my mind was how do I woo her, but I didn't need to worry about it, for right now.


Hope you liked this better than the last version of it!

i'm thinking about having some different covers for my stories, so anyone who can provide me with a cover for them, (will give credit to artist, don't panic please!) that would be awesome, and i would be extremely grateful for it!

Rate and Review!

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