A/N: Thanks for the feedback, guys; it's strongly appreciated! Like I said last time, this chapter will be a little heavier than the rest, so just… beware of that, k? : ] Enjoy, review, take care!

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Cora

It's a beautiful night, thankfully. I had heard this morning on TV that there might be rain, but I can't smell it in the air and I can see every single star in the sky. Maybe when I get back home I'll bring my notes outside on the porch to study…

I pass the beach and my mind travels to Denman. In the past few days I've been spending a lot of time with her and at her lab. I sighed. I had seen and heard a lot in just a few days; enough to prove that my feelings, that have been until now JUST feelings, that Denman was out for the girls were right. Denman's right-hand man, Jerry, had told me that they were onto "something big" once, but lost it. Now, they had reason to believe it was back. They had showed me their holding tank area; all of the tanks had animals in them – except for three identical ones in the back of the room.

Seeing THAT had made my blood run cold, but when Denman had taken me into her office I saw a large object with a cloth thrown over it to conceal it. When she had left to meet a colleague briefly, I had looked underneath the cloth. The object was a machine – it was a polygraph machine. A lie-detector test. And as far as I know, those are only used on humans; not on marine animals. During my tour, down by the dolphin pools I had passed a room that looked like a hospital room. I peeked through the door and saw a long table with holding straps. Last time I checked, dolphins didn't get strapped to tables. People did.

I sighed, lost in thought. Whatever I was going to do, I needed to do it fast. I was so distracted, I didn't hear the car pull up alongside me.

Zane

I waited in the parking lot for this girl to come out of the restaurant. Nate had been able to help me out by getting her off of work. I didn't tell him a whole lot about why. He knows Emma, Cleo, Rikki, and this girl Cora's mermaid secret. As far as he knew, though, Cora was just a co-worker and a friend. He didn't know about her overstepping her boundaries, and he didn't have to.

I switched my music on, and after a few minutes I saw her leave. I started the car and watched her turn the corner down the road before pulling out of the parking lot, following her.

I waited at the corner of every street for her to get far enough ahead of me. She didn't seem to notice me a block behind her, as I had my lights switched off. It looked like she was taking the shortcut home, which was just fine with me. The road we were on was empty aside from a few parked cars, and the majority of the buildings were abandoned homes. After a while I saw her getting close to the old basketball court and decided that this was the perfect time to pull up to her – the basketball hoops had been taken down years ago, so there wouldn't be anything in there for her to send flying into my skull. I reached under my seat and felt the metal of the gun my dad gave me for my last birthday. I sighed. Hopefully this wouldn't be something I had to use, but I wasn't taking chances anymore. I pulled it out and tucked it into the back of my pants, and pulled up to the side of her and unrolled my window.

"Hey – You're Cora, yeah?"

She stopped walking and jumped a little before she turned to look at me. She must've really not been paying attention if she didn't hear me pulling up.

"Yes… You…I've seen you before. You're Rikki's boyfriend Zane?"

I smirked. We had never met, but I know that she'd probably seen me during visions about Rikki.

"Yeah. That's a neat trick you got there…" I muttered and turned the car off, opening the door and getting out and facing her at my full height. She's pretty tall for a girl; I'm 6'2" and she's not too much shorter than me. However, she looks anything but threatening – just like Charlotte did. That must be one of the things Rikki doesn't like. I know Rikki, and she likes to be able to size people up by looking at them. Games and investigating people weren't up her alley. So, I'd make it up my alley.

"I… I guess so, yeah. I should probably get going…"

"Hey, hey… hang on a minute," I said and gave her my best smile and put my hand on her shoulder, leading her through the entrance to the basketball court, "Let's talk first."

"Is… something wrong?" She asked. The basketball court was dark except for the light that got in from the streetlights. Didn't matter, it was enough for me to see her face and her to see mine.

"You could say that." The friendly voice was gone, I wasn't going to use that for another second, "It's my understanding that you've been poking around where you don't belong, making a lot of people very uncomfortable."

"But… what? I know the girls don't really like me, but I'm only trying to –"

"To get rid of Denman?" I cut her off, "Yeah, I've heard that before. Well, Cora. If that were true, you would have done it already. You would have used that mind-moving crap and the visions you supposedly have to figure something out and she would be gone by now."

"But… Zane that's not really quite how it works—"

"Sure it's not," I took a step toward her, and she took a step back. I took another, and she took another one back, and she was standing up against the brick wall, "Why do you look so nervous? Someone like you shouldn't really worry about somebody else being a threat."

"Look… I really don't mean anybody any harm I just—"

I saw her starting to lift her hands; I knew from seeing Rikki use her powers over the years that this was how it started. The second I noticed it I grabbed both of her wrists in my left and without even thinking about it the back of my right hand and arm flew into the side of her face, and I saw her head tilt back and hit the brick wall behind her. I couldn't believe I had just hit a girl, but this wasn't just a girl. She was dangerous and who knows what she was about to do. The blow to her head didn't knock her out but she did seem dazed and she slumped down to sit against the wall. I kneeled down in front of her so that our eyes were level.

"Don't you dare try that shit with me. I know what you're up to, they know what you're up to. If you think I'm going to let you become all buddy-buddy with Denman and then lead her straight to them, you have never been more wrong in your life."

"W-what?! It's not like that! No… you don't understand I would never, ever do anything to hurt them I swear—"

I had heard enough. I was going to make my final point last, and make it mean something. I pulled the gun out of the back of my jeans, cocked it and pointed it in her face.

"I'm not going to kill you tonight. But I swear to god – If I ever hear about you being anywhere near those girls again, if I ever hear about you doing something even remotely out of line, you will not be so lucky next time."

That shut her up. I glared at her and stood up, keeping the gun in my hand until I got to my car just in case. I got back in and tossed it onto the passenger seat, started the car and left.

Meanwhile – Lewis

I couldn't believe we had done it. Max and I had used a combination of his old research and our new research to figure out how and why Cora's powers were so different from Cleo, Rikki and Emma's. I had left Max's and was on my way to Cora's house to tell her, but I gave her a call first. It rang and I got no answer. I shrugged it off and figured her phone was on silent and headed to her condo. I knocked on her door and waited – no answer. I knocked again, still no answer. It was only 6:30, she wouldn't be asleep already. Something felt weird to me, but I brushed it off. She was probably in the library or at the lab at school studying for our biology midterm tomorrow. Or, she could be with Denman at her lab. I know she's been spending an awful lot of time there finding out what Denman had and what she was planning, but I couldn't help but worry. I don't love the idea of Cora being around Denman but I know how intent she is on getting Denman away from Cleo Emma and Rikki. I didn't want Denman to find out about her and I definitely didn't want anything to happen to her.

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The Next Day – Lewis

I looked around the lecture hall; the test was about to start, and I didn't see Cora. She wasn't in her usual seat next to me, and she was never late. That was weird. I glanced around the room and saw her all the way in the back corner of the room with the hood of her brown sweater pulled up, her hair in her face but I could still tell it was her even from my spot in the front of the room. Maybe she had figured that since she was late, she'd just slip into a seat at the back. Oh well; I'll catch her after the test is over and I'll let her know about what Max and I figured out last night.

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The test was over and my hand was cramped, but thankfully I didn't have any more tests today. I stood up and turned to head up the stairs to leave and meet Cora. But, strangely enough, I looked around where she had been sitting and she was already long gone.

*

Emma

I picked up Rikki's feet so that I could push the vacuum over the carpet between the couch and the table. My only class today has been cancelled, so I decided to take full advantage of the free day and was going to clean our apartment until it was spotless. So far I was doing all right; Cleo isn't back from class yet and Rikki isn't getting in the way too badly – she hasn't moved from this spot on the couch since she woke up. I know she has a midterm later on today, if I were her I would be studying. But, it isn't my place to tell her when to study. Or to study at all.

I heard the door close and saw Cleo bounce happily into the kitchen, heading straight for the fridge. I kept vacuuming and smirked as Rikki kept leaning from side to side, trying to see the TV around me. I smiled and continued cleaning.

After I was done, I moved onto the final quick task of wiping down the kitchen. Just as I was finishing, there was a knock on our door. I know Ash was going to come by today, but if this was him he was very early… I opened the door and was greeted by Lewis, who looked a little bit frazzled.

"Hi Lewis! Come on in, everyone is inside." I smiled and ushered him in and closed the door behind him.

"Good, I wanted to talk to all of you. Easier if you're all in one spot…" He walked straight into the kitchen where Cleo was sitting down eating and sat near her on one of the barstools.

"Rikki!" I called her, "Lewis is here, he wants to talk to us." A few seconds later Rikki slumped out into the room.

"Better not have brought us another mermaid, Lewis…" She muttered. Cleo and I had told her about where we had seen Cora go the other day, and she's been a little… bitter ever since. Lewis rolled his eyes a little.

"No, I did not 'bring you another mermaid,' Rikki. But, you guys all know that I've been working with Max comparing the kind of mermaid that the three of you became on Mako Island to the kind that Cora and her sister became in their moon-pool. Well, we've been trying to figure out why you guys have different powers. You guys can manipulate the weather and the elements, Cora has her visions and telekinesis and her sister was a mind reader."

"What was her sister's other power?" Cleo asked.

"We don't know. She might have had a second one later on, but she died before one could develop. Which, as sad as it is, actually helped us in figuring out why you have two very different kinds of powers. From what Max and I can tell, Cora and her sister Mattie were really close, and really, really defensive of one another even before their transformation. After it, that got even stronger." Lewis started. I was curious as to where this was going…

"Uh… but so are the three of us, Lewis. And we became more defensive of one another after we became mermaids also." I said.

"I'm very glad you said that, Emma. Well, the reason why you guys and Cora and her sister got more defensive of each other after becoming mermaids, is that you shared a physical, chemical bond with each other and had a secret that you had to keep safe. The secret is supernatural, and so the need to keep it safe is deeper than just 'somebody finding out.' It's the need to stay together, almost as if you three were sisters. The three of you have that need, your powers reflect it. In the mermaid world, you three are known as Defenders. You would and have defended one another from everything that has come your way, whether it's been related to you being mermaids or not. You guys have had to face a TON of threats in the past few years, and the ability to manipulate the elements together is pretty formidable – speaking as somebody that you threw into a tornado, I think I would know…"

"We said we were sorry about that like a million times!" Cleo pouted and frowned a little, and I couldn't help but smirk. We had all felt pretty bad after the fact, but Lewis hadn't been hurt.

"I forgive you guys, you know that. But, Cora and her sister were sisters, obviously. They had a blood bond as well as the physical, chemical, supernatural bond that being mermaids brought. The two of them together were also Defenders, really intense Defenders because of the blood relationship. Cora was able to physically feel it when her sister was killed. But, after she died Cora didn't have anyone to 'defend' anymore, so to speak. She did know that you three existed because of the visions she has, but obviously didn't know you. But, since you were also mermaids, she still had a force inside of her compelling her to defend the mermaid secret. And when she started seeing Denman in her visions, the force just got stronger and stronger until it peaked. That's when she moved to Australia, and that's when her telekinesis developed."

"…So she moved here because she wanted the mermaid thing to be kept a secret? If that's the case why should it have even mattered to her – she didn't know us." Rikki sounded less biting than she had before – was that hesitation I heard in her voice?

"Not exactly, Rikki; there's more. Even though Cora didn't know you, she still shared the mermaid bond with you. After her sister was gone, her energy became focused on you three completely. She saw what Denman was planning to do through her visions, and the urge to keep the three of you safe was, and is, about as important to her as breathing – even though she's not aware of it yet, she can certainly feel it…"

"Wait… you haven't told her any of this yet?" I asked.

"We only came to these conclusions last night. I wanted to tell her today, but I haven't been able to catch her…"

I saw Rikki shift uncomfortably out of the corner of my eye but shrugged it off.

"So does that mean she's still a Defender, like us? And what does it have to do with her telekinesis?" I asked; I couldn't help it, science usually bored me to tears but what Lewis was saying was actually interesting – and I could follow it, for once.

"Glad you asked. No, guys. She's not a Defender anymore, now that she's here she's moved onto something different. Cora is now what in the mermaid world, is called a Protector. Meaning, to make it short, that in her mind her sole purpose is to keep the three of you out of harm's way. And it makes a world of difference when it comes to her powers. The three of you can control your powers at any time you want. Originally we only thought that Cora's telekinesis worked when she was afraid, but we were really wrong about that. Turns out that because of her status as a Protector, her powers only work in one direction – they only work when she's afraid for somebody else, in order to keep that person safe."

I saw Rikki stiffen next to me again and looked at her just in time to see her raise her eyebrows; typical Rikki.

"So what you're saying… is that her powers work for other people only. Not if she needs to help herself." She spoke slowly and curiously and I raised my own eyebrows – Rikki was showing interest in something Lewis was saying? About Cora?

"Right," Lewis sighed a little and looked around at all of us, "So, that's it. I figured I would let you guys know, Cleo told me you might be interested in knowing when I found out…"

"We are, Lewis, and thank you for telling us!" I smiled a little bit I couldn't help but wonder why Cora was making friends with Dr. Denman; I was still really suspicious. I thought about mentioning it to Lewis right there, but I couldn't. He really likes this girl, and even if I told him he probably wouldn't want to believe it. He'd be blind to the fact that she was sneaking around with the enemy, just like he had been blind to Charlotte's nonsense.

"Not a problem, guys. I'd better go try and find Cora. I think she knows when her powers do and don't work, but to be honest it's better if she knows why soon."

"Yeah, well, thanks for the update McCartney, now if you'll excuse me I'm missing my show." Rikki smirked at Lewis and turned and left the kitchen, heading back for the living room.

"We'll see you around, Lewis! Thanks for coming over," Cleo walked Lewis to the door, and with a wave he was gone.

There were a few things that I was a little curious about now; Rikki's behavior, what Lewis had said, and where Cleo and I had seen Cora… But I couldn't concern myself with those things right now. I heard my phone ringing in my bedroom and headed in to answer it. I'm sure it was nothing - curiosity killed the cat, anyway.

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