A/N: School really is brutal, but I'm back with a new chapter. Thanks goes out to all my readers. Here is chapter 9. Enjoy!

Previously... After their science trip with Dr. Alder, Taylor was having more and more trouble keeping her mermaid half from James. Then James got caught in a wave, Taylor rescues him, but acquiring a concussion in the process. James also finds out she is a mermaid and confronts her. Taylor admits it and there love is stronger than ever. Now on to the chapter.

Chapter 9: Sample

Carefully Rachel washed the test tubes, while the rest of the science club members cleared away other things. They were just about finished for the day and the only thing left to do was to tidy things up. When they had finished, Rachel grabbed her bag and was about to follow the rest out when Mr. Martin came in. "Rachel, would you stay back for a moment," Mr. Martin said and she nodded, unsure of what he wanted.

"What is it?" Rachel asked.

"Don't worry. You're not in trouble," he assured her, "Someone wishes to meet you." Meet her? Now Rachel was really curious.

Turning around, she saw Dr. Alder enter the science room. "Hello Rachel," Dr. Alder greeted her, reaching his hand out to her.

"Dr. Alder. It's a pleasure to see you again," Rachel smiled, shaking his hand.

"The pleasure is all mine," he replied as Mr. Martin left the room to give them some privacy.

"What can I do for you?" Rachel asked, "You surely didn't take time out of your busy schedule just to say hi to me." "

You really are smart, Rachel. I like that," Dr. Alder told her, making Rachel blush, slightly, "You're right. I came here to ask you where you got that scale from." Rachel's heart stopped. What was going on? He had the normal fish scale, right?

"It's a normal scale. What does it matter?" Rachel inquired.

"I'll tell you this in the confidence that you won't tell anyone. That scale turns to human flesh when it is dry and changes back when it is touched by water," the scientist explained. The world seemed to be spinning and Rachel had to grab a hold of a table to steady herself. So he had taken Sarah's scale by accident. Dr. Alder gave her a worried look, but said nothing.

"I found it at the bottom of the ocean, remember," Rachel lied.

"Don't lie to me, Rachel. I know that is not true. In the lab you had two specimen jars, but you only brought one back up," Alder retorted.

"I got it from the ocean," Rachel repeated, "I found two and wanted to keep one, so I only showed you one of them."

The was a long silence and Rachel debated on whether or not just to grab her stuff and go. Just as she had decided to do that, Dr. Alder asked, "Do you intend to work the scientific field?"

"What?" Rachel replied, confused at what the question had to do with anything.

"Do you intend to become a scientist?" he repeated.

"It would be a dream come true," Rachel answered.

"If you work with me, I can open doors for you that you didn't even know existed," Dr. Alder told her, "However if you work against me… Well lets say you won't ever get a job as a scientist." Rachel stared at him astonished. He couldn't do that, could he? It took all of her control not to make a faucet explode behind him, knowing it would only prove his suspicions about her.

"Good day, Dr. Alder," Rachel finally said through clenched teeth, grabbed her bag and left.

In the hallway she ran into Mr. Martin. "Ah, Rachel. You done talking with Dr. Alder already?" he asked, "What did he want?"

"He just asked me something about where I found the scale," Rachel answered, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible, "I didn't know anything though. See you tomorrow, Mr. Martin." Quickly Rachel continued walking. She didn't want to be in the same building as that scientist anymore. Not to mention there was something she had to check on.

As Rachel went past her locker she quickly opened it and pulled out the small jar with the sample in it. She had hoped to possibly do an experiment or two on Sarah's scale and to be of help like that to the real mermaids, but she hadn't had the chance to do so inconspicuously. Now she cursed herself for not having at least checked that she really had the right scale. Checking to make sure that no one was watching, Rachel dumped the water into a fountain and balled her fist. "Please," she begged, "Please, turn into flesh." Smoke was starting to rise from the scale, but still nothing happened. Suddenly it caught fire and Rachel dropped it, stomping it out. It was definitely a normal scale.

As she carefully scooped up the remains of the scale, despair started to consume Rachel. However it quickly turned into rage. "Damn it!" Rachel yelled as she slammed her hand against the row of lockers so hard that she knew it would turn black and blue later. Her anger vented, Rachel slid down the lockers to the ground. As she sat there it hit her. The others. They were in trouble now. Dr. Alder wasn't dumb. If he figured out that it wasn't from her then it had to be from someone close to her. Slowly Rachel got up and walked towards the exit of the school. It shamed her. Her attempt to help her friends had turned into the exact opposite. Something far more dangerous. How was she supposed to tell them this?

Rachel didn't need to call any of her friends to know where they were. Single minded she walked the streets, not once wavering on her path. Finally she stopped in front of Emily's house. After ringing, Emma opened the door. With a nod Rachel greeted her and then walked upstairs where she knew that she would find her friends. Opening the door, she was met with the innocent faces of her four friends. Their happy faces made Rachel feel even worse.

"Hey," they greeted her.

"Hey," Rachel replied as she walked up to them, "How are you, Taylor?"

The blonde that had gotten a concussion saving her boyfriend a few days ago smiled back, "Besides being bored to tears fine. Though I think I can go to school again tomorrow."

"You might want to put that off for a while," Rachel muttered, nervously, "All of you for that matter…"

The four mermaids stared at her. "What do you mean?" Amber asked.

"Is something the matter? You seem weird," Sarah added.

Rachel stared from one to the next and finally took a deep breath. "Remember how I kept that scale from you, Sarah? Well,… Dr. Alder sort of got his hands on it and confronted me about it today."

For a moment the room was silent, the words that had been said slowly sinking in and then all hell broke loose. "What!" Sarah, Amber and Emily exclaimed, followed by many questions all muddled into one large ball of shouts. It only stopped when they saw that Taylor was holding her head. "Sorry," they whispered.

"What happened?" Taylor asked, calmly. So Rachel explained. How she had kept Sarah's scale from being seen, over when Dr. Alder must have taken the wrong one by mistake, all the way to how he showed up in school, making her realize her mistake. The four mermaids silently listened to their friend's telling, not interrupting her once.

"I'm really sorry," Rachel finished, "Had I known he had gotten his hands on the scale, I would have done something about it."

"We know," Sarah said, "We know you would never endanger us on purpose."

"It was just a shock," Emily added.

"Are you sure that he took the right one by accident?" Amber asked, making everyone look up, "It sure seems like a pretty big coincidence that he just happens to choose Sarah's scale in all the commotion."

"Actually I have been wondering that myself. Even if he did take the scale, the only way he would have found out was by examining it," Rachel admitted, "Why would a renowned scientist look at the samples some class found?"

"You think there is more to it?" Taylor inquired.

"We'll find out," Rachel assured them.

"Shouldn't we get out sample back tomorrow?" Emily asked, "We are supposed to work with it."

"Lets worry about that later. I'm hungry," Amber said.

"Good idea. Lets make something," Sarah replied.

"I'll come too," Taylor smiled.

"No, you're not," Emily retorted,"You shouldn't stress yourself."

"Coming downstairs and eating is strenuous?" Taylor asked, "Come on. I can use my powers almost pain free again. I'm fine."

"Fine, but we'll come get you once it's done. Rest until then," Emily gave in.

"Don't worry. We should be done in about 20 minutes," Sarah assured her as they got up and left.

Taylor flopped back into her pillow. She hated being confined to this room, especially now that she was feeling better. Growing restless as the days accumulated, Taylor knew there was really only one reason why she hadn't already just left. Just then there was a knock on the door. Her reason. James peeked into her room and smiled at her when he saw that she was alone. His visits had been more frequent and longer now that she had had to stay home while the rest of the family had to work or go to school. Often they talked, especially about mermaids, now that he knew about her. That was definitely a plus. She didn't have to lie to him. That much…

After he kissed her, James asked, "How are you?"

"Good," Taylor answered, "I think I'll go back to school tomorrow."

"You hate my company that much?" James questioned, playing the hurt.

"I love your company. I just hate the inactive part about it," Taylor smiled.

"Fine, I'll overlook it," James gave in, "Under one condition?"

"Which?" Rachel asked.

"You show me your powers and transform," James listed. Taylor understood the request. Due to her concussion anything having to do with magic had been out of the question, since it had been too painful. James had agreed to wait until she was better before she showed him.

Taylor nodded as she turned to a glass of water on her night stand and activated her powers. A pang of pain went through her head, but she ignored it. It was definitely nothing compared to the pain she had felt only a few days ago. She nodded and James picked up the glass. "Amazing," he gasped as he held it above his head, "It's jelly."

"You shouldn't do that. It'll…," Taylor began, but her warning came too late as the jelly turned back into water, dumping itself all over James as well as a few drops on Taylor, "Sorry. I only transformed it for a moment, but, hey, I'm going to transform." Just as she said that she transformed. This time the pain was more intense, but again bearable.

James just stared down at her. "Beautiful," he finally whispered, "You're beautiful."

"You're exaggerating," Taylor replied, "You saw me before remember?"

"Well, it's a bit different when you see a mermaid and you're drowning," James said.

"You should get going through," Taylor told him, "They're going to get me for lunch soon." With a scowl James gave Taylor a quick kiss before heading out again.

Only a few seconds later Taylor already heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Cursing Taylor maneuvered her tail under the blanket and pulling it all the way to her chin. How was she going to explain this? The door opened and Rachel came in. Silently Taylor let out a sigh of relief. Had it been any of the others the explanation would have been a lot harder to give.

Rachel immediately noticed what was going on. "Why are you a mermaid?" Rachel asked, but then answered the question herself, "So you finally told James?"

"Well, actually he found out during the waves," Taylor answered.

"Wow, you don't get to talk for a few days and this happens," Rachel muttered, sitting down on Taylor's bed.

"Well, it's not like we were ever really alone," Taylor replied and Rachel just shrugged, nodding.

"So how is he taking it?" Rachel asked.

"Amazingly well," Taylor told her, "But how about we get some food? I'm pretty sure the others are waiting. Especially Amber." The two friends laughed as Rachel used her powers to dry her. With a stabbing pain Taylor transformed back and they went down to eat.

The following day the five girls sat anxiously in science class. Taylor had gone back to school, even though Emily had said it might be too early, and had simply called her a mother hen. Just then Mr. Martin walked in, the samples in tow. "Good morning class," he greeted them, "As you can see we'll start working on your samples that you collected a while back. I have a big surprise."

In walked Dr. Alder. "What is he doing here?" Rachel asked, a bit too loudly so that Mr. Martin overheard it and Rachel blushed, "It's just doesn't Dr. Alder have a lot of work to do himself?"

"Took some time out of my schedule to be here. I find it important to sponsor young talent," Dr. Alder explained.

"I see," Rachel muttered, trying to keep her dislike for the guy in check.

"Anyway, come up, get your samples and start with the experiments like instructed," Mr. Martin told them. Rachel volunteered to get it and walked up to the teacher's desk. As she grabbed her small jar, she eyes Dr. Alder, who simply smiled at her as though nothing was wrong. Was he just going to let her take it? Then again he had little other choice, if he wanted to remain inconspicuous.

The lesson went without any interruption. Amazingly enough Dr. Alder kept his distance and showed no more interest in the mermaids' group than he did to the others. Rachel kept an eye on him, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. At the end of the class, she asked, "Mr. Martin, can I take the sample home? I'd like to do my own experiment on it, if that's alright with you." That had to make Dr. Alder force his hand, if he didn't want to lose possession of the scale.

"That's fine. I know you won't do anything stupid with it," Mr. Martin answered. With that Rachel packed the sample and followed her friends out of the classroom. Dr. Alder remained silent.

The rest of the school day went by and the five sat in Sarah's backyard. "I can't believe he just let us walk out with it," Taylor said, "We sure are lucky."

"Nothing he could do. He can't seem suspicious," Sarah replied with a shrug.

"But didn't you find that too easy?" Amber asked.

"Why? He could hardly not give us our sample," Emily answered.

"Still, I agree with Amber. It was too easy. He didn't as much as flinch when I asked to take the scale," Rachel told them.

"Maybe you should be less suspicious," Sarah said.

"Or maybe you should be more suspicious," Amber retorted, "Rachel, hand it to me." Silently Rachel handed it to the blond, who just placed it on the ground in front of her. Slowly she balled her fist. The five girls stared at the scale, waiting for it to turn back into flesh. Suddenly it burst into flame. "I'm guessing this isn't our scale," Amber said the small fire died down.

"So he gave us a decoy?" Sarah asked.

"No wonder he was so calm," Emily muttered, "He had the real one all along."

"Rachel?" Taylor asked, seeing her friend's shaking figure, suddenly she jumped up, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to visit him," Rachel told her.

"Then let us come along," Sarah insisted.

"No way. If he goes around splashing water, there is no way to keep all this a secret," Rachel retorted, "I have to go alone."

Emily simply nodded, while Amber said, firmly, "Let us at least follow you in the water. We'll stay out of the way, but if you get into trouble we can save you. I don't trust that creep." Rachel nodded curtly and hurried off, while her friends ran to the water.

"You should stay here, Taylor," Emily said.

"And let you face that maniac alone?" Taylor retorted, "No way. I'm coming along." Emily nodded and they jumped into the water.

A while later Rachel reached the docks where Dr. Alder kept his boat, which was also his lab. Rachel couldn't see her friends, but she guessed that that was the point. She didn't bother with knocking or other pleasantries and just entered. Remembering the way from last time, she quickly found the lab, where Dr. Alder was bent over a microscope. "Dr. Alder," Rachel said, making him look up. He didn't seem surprised to see her.

"I expected you here soon," was all he replied.

"You gave us a decoy," Rachel told him, stepping closer, her rage apparent.

"Did I?" he asked, acting surprised, "Silly me."

"Give it back to me," Rachel ordered, "What will that one scale get you? One whose origin you don't even know." "Lots. This is a revolution. Imagine what would happen, if I actually find people with such DNA," Dr. Alder told her. Only now did Rachel look at what he was doing. On the wall was a picture of DNA, which made her breath get caught in her throat. A few years ago out of love to science and curiosity, she had made a picture of her own DNA. It matched.

"You stole my DNA!" she exclaimed. Dr. Alder said nothing. How? Then it came to Rachel. She had seen him walk past her seat several times that afternoon. It would have been easy to take her DNA. Not just hers for that matter… "You took all of our DNA," Rachel whispered, horrified. What if he had already checked the others?

"So far I have only finished your DNA," Dr. Alder told her, as though he was reading her mind, "It confirmed my suspicion that it wasn't your DNA. However I am more than a hundred percent sure that one of your little group has this DNA."

Suddenly the ship began rocking side to side. "The others," Rachel remembered. She wasn't alone. "Dr. Alder, you don't want to make me your enemy," she warned him.

Quickly he took two strides, covering the distance between them and pinned her to a counter. Rachel tried to free herself, but he was too strong. "Are you sure you should be threatening me? I think I might be a too big of a fish to fry," he growled into her ear, "Now why don't you do us both a favor and tell me who's DNA it is? You'll have a job for life in the field of science."

"Never," Rachel spat.

Abruptly another wave hit the boat, this time so hard that it sent Dr. Alder flying off Rachel. With a groan he got up. "Is this your doing?" he asked, staring at her.

Before Rachel could do anything, a fire burst to life next to the microscope, quickly spreading throughout the whole cabin. "We have to get out of here," Rachel said, covering her mouth. Already the smoke was thick and dark.

"Not without my research," Dr. Alder replied, trying to grab something.

Rachel grabbed his arm, pulling him back. No matter how much she hated him right now, she couldn't let him die. "Lets go," Rachel repeated and pulled him behind her. With the fire hot on their trail, they ran for the exit.

Just as the fire consumed the whole ship, they reached the dock. Dr. Alder sunk to the ground, staring at the flaming wreck. Already people were coming closer and cell phones were being whipped out. "My work," Dr. Alder stammered.

"This is your final warning," Rachel told him in a grave voice, "You try to research this again and you won't be as fortunate next time. If you know what's good for you, this was all just an accident. A lot worse can be done." Without waiting for a reply, Rachel turned on her heel and left, weaving through the crowd.

Rachel walked a bit, making sure that no one was following her, before she headed towards the beach. There she only had to wait a moment before four heads rose out of the water. "Are you alright?" Taylor asked, worried.

"I'm fine," Rachel answered, "Though you wouldn't need to worry, if Amber hadn't overdone it."

"I'm innocent. I didn't use my powers, let alone start the fire," Amber protested, "You honestly think I would take into account that you could be injured just so that I could get at that idiot?"

"It's true, Rachel. I rocked the boat a bit, but none of the others did anything," Sarah told her.

"But where did the fire come from?" Rachel asked, confused, though glad it hadn't been Amber.

"Maybe the rocking caused a short-circuit?" Emily suggested.

"Maybe," Rachel muttered, still not convinced. Taylor looked thoughtful, but said nothing.

"Do you think he'll leave us alone?" Sarah inquired.

"Only time will tell, but I feel confident that we aren't in anymore danger," Rachel replied and they smiled.

A/N: With one villain down, the girls dodged a serious bullet, leaving their bond stronger than ever. What could tear them apart? Perhaps a turmoil from inside? Please review.