Home, sweet home, thought Hank as he stood before the front door of his house. He was away only for one night but it was enough for him to miss his family.

When he was inside, he didn't even take off his boots because a big, hairy dog made it impossible.

"Sumo!" he called, trying to shoo him away for a moment to at least undress his jacket, but the jumps didn't stop. He knew he couldn't help it, Hank was as happy to see him as Sumo who finally calmed down when Hank kneeled down to pet him. "Yeah, I missed you too, buddy."

"Dad?"

Hank heard a soft voice coming from the hall so he stood up and smiled when the sleepy figure of his son appeared before him. It was barely after seven, nothing's weird that he was still in his pajamas. To be honest Hank would be actually surprised to see him already changed.

Hank wanted to ask him if he woke him up but before he could, small arms circled around his belly in a warm hug. So Hank picked him up to embrace him as well, he just couldn't resist. Even though Cole was a big boy now, he was still a sensitive child, raised without a mother.

"Hey, bug" he started as he tried to toe his shoes off, this time without any disturbances. Sumo was sitting neatly on the floor, but his wagging tail and eyes full of hope betrayed the nervousness building up inside him. Hank knew he would attack him more later ready for some cuddles, but now he looked like he was restraining because of Cole in his arms. Dogs were such smart creatures, Hank was glad they decided to bring him home from the pound. "How you've been? Hope you didn't get under granny's skin this time."

"He was good as always, Hank."

Hank looked at the person leaning against the door frame – his mother-in-law, and he sent her a warm smile. "Hello, Bridget."

Bridget Anderson was always there to babysit Cole, during his absence. Hank tried to persuade her to give it a break since she was only getting weaker through the years, she was nearing her seventies after all, and Hank was more than aware how troublesome it could get to raise a seven years old kid. Yet she never complained, what more, she was always eager to see her grandson, no matter the time.

He had no frikking idea what would happen when she was no longer there. Babysitting aside, he would just find another person, but she was like a real mother to him as he barely knew his own.

"Let me put Cole into bed, he was awake the whole night" she said reaching her hands to grab the kid, and it was then when Hank noticed an even breath at his neck and little snores. He didn't handle him over, just headed towards Cole's room himself.

"I've got him. You should probably rest as well" he just responded before opening the door.

He knew if Cole had no sleep tonight, she hadn't either. They were probably worried sick, waiting for his arrival and he would've been home much sooner if it wasn't for a certain fish. Why it was so hard to forget about those pleading eyes and his choices back then?

"The decision of your suspension was already made, there's nothing I can do" had said Fowler when he entered his office yesterday.

And Hank was aware that being suspended didn't actually mean he would ever return to this job. It could be permanent at times, just put in pretty words.

The awareness of losing his job didn't push him to make up some stories how the merman ended up in the water. There was no guarantee if anyone would believe him, he had its blood everywhere, on his hands, soaked in his clothes, saying he just spotted it fleeing was out of place.

So he had just been standing there ready to swallow whatever Fowler was going to throw at him, though the only remark hitting his ears was, " I'm sorry, Hank."

Hank knew if Fowler let him stay aboard, it could've caused a rebellion. Everyone on the ship wanted him drowned for what he'd done, even Reed was oh so fucking kind to remind him his own words of disapproval all the time. But Hank couldn't rewind the time and even if he could, he was never sure if he didn't end up in the same situation, anyway.

Hank looked at the sleeping face of Cole after he tucked him in bed. Any decision he ever made was for Cole's own protection, but maybe he did wrong this time. Maybe he should kill this merman before tossing it into the water.

No, he wouldn't do that. His conscience wouldn't let him, though probably if he sensed any threat, he would've just defended himself, but there were none. Only a lost living being which was as scared as any human could be.

Hank exited Cole's room and saw his mother-in-law sitting on the couch in his living room. The woman was watching tv and it made Hank leaving another sigh from his mouth. She was supposed to be resting now, as it was too obvious she pulled an all nighter, not waiting to have a chat with him. But he joined her anyway, silently following with eyes the moving images on the screen.

"I tried to persuade him to have some sleep, but he wanted to wait for you" Bridget started after a moment. Hank looked at her face and with her gaze still glued to the screen, she continued. "When it was past two o'clock, I knew you weren't coming back till the morning, but he still didn't want to go to bed. In the end, we both dozed off here."

She laughed so softly, and this time she finally made a move to look at Hank. She put his hands in her as she spoke further. "Hank, is everything okay? Last time you didn't come right back home was when the fire made it impossible. What happened this time?"

"We had a delivery to the southern port. If not for some... problems, I would've probably returned tomorrow."

"Hank, you work as fisherman, why do you need to make deliveries now?" she asked, furrowing her browns what caused the wrinkles on her face to deepen.

"It doesn't matter. Not gonna work on the ship tomorrow starting, so what they do is not my concern for now" he explained, but Bridget's eyes suddenly widened and before she could say anything Hank squeezed her hand in a signal he's not done yet. "It was just another bicker, nothing to worry about. Gonna be back on duty as soon as things settle down."

"Is Jeffrey out his mind?" she fumed as she leaned back on the couch and even though it looked like she was ready to speak some more, no words leaved her mouth.

"Everything's gonna be fine. Don't worry."

Hank repeated not knowing if he tried to convince her or himself.

Through all two weeks, Hank caught himself thinking about the merman more than he would like to admit. Everything just reminded him of it, a fish lying on his plate at dinner, the blinding sunrise when he was on his way to work or just the calm sea.

Knowing that down there weren't only fishes or other animals, but also a human like creatures, made Hank staring at the waters more frequent as if expecting to see a blue tail sticking out of there. He shouldn't think that way, he knew that, but he just couldn't help but wonder if the merman was okay.

And again, when he was finally home, another object referring to it was hanging on the surface of the refrigerator. The drawing of beach – nothing out the ordinary, it was Cole's favorite place – but what caught Hank's eyes was a person sitting on the sand. A person with blue legs which ended with what looked like fins.

Shit, Hank felt his insides crunching at the thought of Cole meeting it. He took a big breath to calm himself down and then took the picture off the fridge.

Maybe it was just his son imagination, maybe Cole was never actually at the beach in the first place, he promised him he wouldn't go anyway. He was aware that mermaid's subject wasn't a taboo, everyone knew they existed a long time ago. If it wasn't for school and tales they've been sharing with a young generation, people would forget about them already.

So, was it really weird for a child to draw a mermaid? Hank would just let it go if he wasn't in this fucked up situation.

"Cole?" he called as he took a few steps toward the living room. "When did you draw this?"

Cole stopped playing with his toys and when Hank saw those nervous eyes look up at him, he knew something was off. "Am I in big trouble, dad?"

Hank only sighed heavily. How could he say yes, without even knowing the reason? Hank always believed Cole was very responsible for a kid in his age. "What happened?"

"When we were walking Sumo with grandma today, he started barking and then ran away towards the beach. I didn't mean to go there alone! I'm sorry, I really didn't-"

"It's okay, I'm not mad, Cole" Hank interrupted when Cole stood up from the floor and started to panic.

"You're not? Really?"

To be honest he was mad but not at his son nor Sumo for breaking free. He was fucking mad that he needed to ban his own son from doing what he enjoyed so much.

"Yeah" he smiled and then handed over the picture to Cole. "So, who's that?"

"That's just the mermaid Sumo scared off."

If Hank was drinking anything right now, it would be all over himself straight away.

He never actually expected this as an answer, even though he had already this feeling that something was not right with the picture in the first place, but why Cole was so calm was a question now. He should be more affected with seeing something that shouldn't exist on this planet anymore than thinking about the reprimand he would get from Hank.

Hank just needed to play his cards right.

"So you're saying you saw a mermaid and it didn't eat your head off?"

He then picked Cole up before he could answer, and tickled him like in the good old times when Hank's back wasn't screaming at him every time they were playing together.

"Dad, s-stop it!" Cole laughed, trying not to choke, so Hank put him back on the floor.

"Let's make some sandwiches, I'm starving."

Bridget came back before sunset with bags full of groceries. Hank needed to remind her once again that she was not a maid to run errands in his stead, but it only ended in another senseless conversation, so he gave up. He decided to go on a walk since Cole had someone to keep an eye on him.

When he was nearing the spot Cole had mentioned at supper, Hank wondered if he really would find it there. Maybe it left already, or never been there in the first place. But as he passed by the withered grass and some bushes, the lying creature immediately got spotted by his eyes.

The merman was on his back, propped by elbows. The tail was flipping slowly in the rhythm of what heard like humming. It all stopped though, when the merman opened its eyes and turned the head to look up at Hank, this time without freaking out.

The stare was so intense, it made a shiver run down his spine. Either way, he decided to talk to it once again.

"What do you think you're doing? I didn't save you, so you can show yourself here."

"What am I doing? I'm sunbathing."

"Yeah, you're sunbathing, I can see that, but what are you doin- wait, you can actually talk?"

Why was he so fucking surprised hearing it speak now, he had no idea. It had already showed Hank it could understand him perfectly.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"You were so damn quiet back then, you know?"

And Hank knew how dumb he sounded – he should be more than aware why it was unable to speak the day they fish it out, but right now he felt so troubled, the words leaved his mouth without thinking.

"I tried to reason with you, but my throat was in a bad condition" it explained and Hank's eyes moved down almost mechanically to take a good look at merman's neck, then he grimaced seeing small pinkish scars. "It's recovered now, so I can finally thank you."

Hank felt his insides flipping when the creature rolled on its side and still supporting its body with elbows it said, "Thank you for saving my life."

"Yeah, your welcome, now go home, I don't want more of you to show up here."

"I'm all alone. No one could follow me since I'm not a part of the group anymore."

"Why?"

If they lived in groups, then why did it abandon its kind? Hank was not going to lie, he was so damn curious and now when he verified it could speak for real, so many questions were racing through his head.

The merman's eyes lowered down as if it was thinking but after a moment it looked back at Hank. "It doesn't matter. I'm not here to cause any troubles, I just wanted to find you."

"Okay, you achieved your goals, what's holding you back then?"

"I thought if I could..."

"Look, as you noticed before people are not fond of your race." Hank cut the merman off while it was trying to say something. He knew it wasn't here for him only, just one look was enough to confirm it enjoyed being on land. The way it beamed with happiness while its hands played with warm sand. Or the way it watched the waves crushing on the shore. Hank recognized this look as he's seen people daydreaming all the time. "You can't just stay here."

"I've been avoiding humans. Apart for you, of course, I wouldn't let anyone near me."

"You've been doing a shitty job then. My son saw you."

"Oh..." it muttered quietly, furrowing its browns in confusion.

Yeah, oh... Hank thought and sighed at a sudden change in merman's voice. It seemed very sad at the moment, maybe even sorry?

"He must've seen me when that big, hairy monster tried to devour me! I barely managed to escape."

"A what now?" Hank laughed so hard. He remembered Cole mentioning that Sumo run into it, but he could never imagine him actually trying to attack anyone. "You mean Sumo? He's harmless."

"I'm sorry, I've never met any Sumos before. But by all means they not appear as gentle as you claim. This Sumo tried to mark me with its saliva and if I never made it to the sea on time, I'm afraid we couldn't have had this conversation."

"Holy crap, Sumo's a name. He's a dog" Hank tried to keep a straight face, but when the merman tilted its head in indication that it had absolute no idea what was that dog thing, it was finally the time to lose it all. So he needed to cover his laugh with a hand to not look like a creep. "A pet you keep in home."

"I'm confused, why do you keep some animal? Do you eat them later?"

"No, god no." The thought alone made a shiver run down his spine. "We keep them to have a company and most people think of them as part of the family."

"Oh, so you keep the fishes as pets, too?"

"No!" Hank knew he shouldn't laugh, but he just couldn't help. It was like educating a five years old kid. "I mean there are some types you can put in an aquarium, but we eat fishes."

"I think I'm kinda lost."

So it turned out this merman was pretty talkative and very curious, just as Hank. He should probably tell it to go away again, but a little chat wouldn't kill anyone.

"Do you have a name?" he asked one of many questions his mind was throwing at him right now.

"We're not named. We mostly communicate in water, so using a number of an egg to call each other is simpler. And since I hatched as eighth, I go by Eight."

"That's pretty fucked up if you ask me."

"It's just practical as we cannot transfer many informations underwater."

"Wait, so you have seven siblings? Huh, that's a lot..."

"Actually, the female type can produce approximately twenty to twenty five at most eggs at mating season. I'm not sure how many were in my case, but only the three of us survived" it explained and for Hank it sounded like out of this planet. He should probably have guessed mermaids were not born in human way. Not with that fish tail they got. "I mean, the hatching, our older brother passed away some time ago."

"Uh, sorry to hear that."

"No need" it assured as it began nervously picking in its tail's scales. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"I can't help but wonder if there's any reason you saved me. I heard some of you talking that selling me would be beneficial, so why?"

Hank would lie if he said he wasn't thrown aback by this question, yet maybe he should have expected that. What he saw before his eyes was a living being with an intelligent mind, so of course it would be wondering why he saved it.

Though he couldn't just say something along 'You look so human ' or ' I was drunk' , those words weren't good enough.

"Look, I have a son. I'm not going to risk his life for some coins. If people think you don't exist anymore, it's better to leave it like that."

"You're so different than our kind pictures yours. Maybe if my brother met you, everything would've turned out in other way."

Losing someone close was always tough, Hank knew it all too well, and now he could feel a growing connection between them as they both were in the same boat.

"What happened to your brother?"

"He fell in love with the wrong human."

The response was quiet, Hank barely caught what the other muttered. It was staring at the sea, apparently averting Hank's gaze. Was it ashamed, or was it just angry at him for what happened to its brother? Hank wasn't aware till now the mermaids could feel such emotions like love. He didn't know a shit about them to begin with, and now everything he already was taught turned out to be not true.

The merman finally looked back at Hank, but the brown eyes were not as cheerful as before, Hank could see regret growing inside them. It opened its mouth – to speak probably about how it shouldn't have told Hank about its family – but then the slightly long ears perked up and it moved its head to look somewhere behind Hank.

"Someone's approaching" the merman said, moving its body to reach the water.

"Listen, you really can't stay here" Hank called behind it, hoping it was the last time he's going to see this creature. He would like to speak with it again, but it was too much of a risk. "Go back home."

It only smiled at him in response and Hank swore he has never seen such a gentle smile before in his life.

"Goodbye, Hank."

Hank didn't remember telling it his name nor he couldn't guess where it could learn that. Maybe the merman was actually near harbor where Hank worked now, or maybe it caught it on the boat that morning, he couldn't tell.

So he was standing there, looking at the spot where the merman disappeared in the waves, until a random couple run beside him holding their hand together.