Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 7
Kurt swam to a deserted shore and laid the policewoman down on the sand. Luckily, she was still breathing although her pulse was rather weak. It was just a grazing shot and there was no bullet inside her body, but her condition was still critical and he doubted that they would make it to the hospital in time. Kurt furrowed his eyebrows. Quinn was the one with healing as her primary power, but theoretically, he should also be able to do that as well. He mentally berated himself he never asked Quinn whether she could teach him how to do it. He undid the tie, held up his hand above the wound, channeled all of his willpower and waved it like Quinn always did. Nothing happened. Kurt repeatedly tried again, but in vain. He was about to give up when the wound suddenly sealed itself up slowly. Kurt was so relieved he didn't notice the woman waking up. "Where am I?", she mumbled dizzily. Her hands flew to her former gunshot wound and she raised her head when she only found a bruise. "What the…" Her eyes widened when she spotted Kurt's fin. "Jesus!", she hissed. At this moment, Kurt realized he forgot to change back after he swam to the shore. "Oops…", he mumbled.
"Soo…your friends are also like you?" Detective Palmers asked. She was sitting on one of the large rocks on the beach. Kurt was sitting next to her, cross legged. They were both staring to the sea in front of them. "Yes.", Kurt admitted. "And you all have those freaky powers?", she wanted to know. Kurt nodded. "That's how you could swim out of the car back then. Do you breathe underwater?", the woman asked curiously. Kurt shook his head. "I can hold my breath for a really long time, though", he explained. "Let me get this straight: Every time you or your friends touch water, you grow fishtails? Whoa, I don't know what I expected, but certainly not that", the cop said, frowning. They sat like that for some minutes, neither of them saying anything and instead listening to the waves, processing what had happened. After some time had passed, the brunette woman got up. "I think I'm going to leave now; I have to report that kidnapping and the suicide of Mandy. But don't worry, your secret is safe with me. That's the least I could do after you saved me twice. I will think of a believable story why Mandy kidnapped you and close the case of your accident for good. Be safe, Mr. Hummel.", Detective Palmers said. "Call me Kurt", Kurt winked. "Only if you call me Kendra!", the policewoman smiled. "I think I also should get going, my friends are probably worried sick!", Kurt said. "Let me guess: you will swim, right?", the woman laughed. Kurt smirked. "I saw that coming. Well, goodbye, I guess. And if you ever need something here in Florida, you have my number. I will never forget what you have done for me, although I wasn't really nice to you. You are a good boy, Kurt", Kendra said. "You're not so bad yourself!", Kurt answered, still smiling. "Well, that's my job. Now go before your friends start to flip out. Have a good flight back to Ohio!", the cop winked. They shook hands, then Kurt took his T-Shirt off and jumped into the water. Kendra watched in fascination as the boy's legs vanished and the bright blue tailfin appeared. She waved one last time before Kurt dove in and sped away.
Blaine was sitting on the shore of the moonpool and staring at the stone walls. Although Sam and Tina convinced him to go to sleep, he was tired. Seeing Kurt' s empty spot in the bed was kind of keeping him from sleeping. Now, it was his turn to stay at the moonpool and Finn helped the others search in the sea. The curly headed boy sighed loudly. It was his fault Kurt disappeared. Why didn't he insist on going with him to the shop? Maybe all of this wouldn't have happened in the first place if he had been with him. Blaine startled when someone suddenly surfaced. "Blaine? What are you doing here?", Kurt asked. Blaine's eyes widened. "Kurt!", he called out. He jumped into the water next to the other boy, grabbed his face and crashed his lips on Kurt's. The chestnut haired boy pulled away after a while and Kurt grinned. "Well...that's what I call a great way to say hello", he laughed. "I was worried sick and so were the others. Where have you been?", Blaine asked breathlessly. Kurt sighed. "Long story. But I'm fine now, that's what is important, right?", he said softly. "Kurt? Is it really you?", Finn, who just appeared at the moonpool's entry, asked incredulously. "Yes , I'm back, Finn", Kurt replied happily. "I'm so glad, dude! We've been searching for you all day and all night. What the hell happened?", Finn wanted to know. "Long story, like I already told Blaine. I'm gonna tell you everything when all the others are around as well", Kurt answered. He turned on his back and floated on the surface of the water, slightly flicking his tailfin. "But now, I really need to rest. I have been sitting on a chair for three days, all tied up and my muscles are hurting", he grimaced, deliberately ignoring the horrified face expressions of his boyfriend and his brother.
After Finn sent a text into the ND group, telling the others Kurt returned, safe and sound, everyone returned to the resort. There were only three days left of their vacation and the gleeks wanted to enjoy them as much as possible, leaving that horrible incident far behind them. Currently, all of them were in the lobby and busy playing table-tennis. Well, almost all of them. "Has anyone seen Artie? We wanted to upgrade our tracking App, but he just disappeared", Puck asked the gleeks. Mercedes paled. "I hope that crazy scientist didn't kidnap him", she shuddered. Kurt shook his head. "Dr. E. commited suicide. According to Kendra, the police even found some of her body pieces", he explained. Rachel shuddered. "Gross! I don't even want to know how they looked", she said, disgusted. Tina was deep in thought. She noticed that Artie was acting weird lately, especially now that their vacation was nearing its end. She furrowed her eyebrows. "I have an idea where Artie might be now", she told the others and turned on her heel to walk away. "Do you want me to come with you?", Quinn offered. Tina shook her head. "No need for that. Just give me some mintues, I will talk to Artie", she said. Mike frowned. "But if you are not back after an hour, we will search for you. We don't want another abduction", he said apprehensively. "That won't happen, I will make sure of that", Tina laughed and left the lobby.
As expected, the girl found Artie in the moonpool. When she surfaced, she could already see his apple green tail. "Artie? Are you okay?", she asked her friend and swam next to him to the edge. Artie sighed. "I don't know...I was so happy when I found out I could move my tail. Gwen explained that my merman side is unaffected by the accident or something like that, so I still can't move my legs. I don't know how to deal with that to be honest. What if I just dive in, swim away and never come back? I've honestly considered that", Artie said, thoughtful. Tina shook her head. "You can't do this to your family our your friends, they would be devastated if you just disappeared without a trace. And what about your future? I thought you wanted to go to college and become a successful director or something like that, right? I don't think you can do that if you want to live in the ocean. I don't want to sugarcoat your life where you can't move your legs, but think about it. Life on land is so much more interesting than in the sea, especially if you are alone. This is not a Disney movie where you can live in an underwater castle like Ariel", Tina joked. Artie laughed quietly. "And one day, you and I are going the explore the ocean or swim to The Bahamas or to the Titanic or whatever you want to do, I promise. But please don't leave your life on land behind just because of that, Artie. We may not be a couple, but you are still important to me and I will not just let you make a big mistake like that", Tina said softly, taking the boy's hands. "Thank you, Tina. And you're right, this was a stupid idea. I can't just run away from my problems or take selfish decisions like that one", Artie realized. "That's what friends are for", the Asian mermaid said coyly. Both of them stayed like that for a while, just enjoying each other's silent company. After a while, Tina tugged her friend's arm. "We really need to get going now, the others are probably worried sick by now because they think we were kidnapped by mad scientists", she laughed. Both of them dove into the water and left the moonpool, swimming back to the resort's beach.
A/N: I really wanted to write how Artie handles the whole situation, so I added a small Tartie scene...
I hope you liked it ;)
