I'm terribly sorry, as usual, for the horrendously long wait. Thank you to all you lovelies for your reviews. They give me the gumption to keep writing. Without further ado, enjoy!

A/N: I don't own The Thirteenth Year or any of its characters. Just my own crazy ideas.

-TSLOF-

The water just by the ferry docks was murky and full of junk. Cody spent only a second there as he kicked with his legs and shot forward into fresher water. His clothes weighed him down and he wanted to kick off his shoes, but he simply pushed forward. He would swim as fast as he could and stay under until his lungs screamed for air.

The usual twenty-minute ferry ride took him only five minutes to swim. Not once did he look back or come up for air until he felt he was far enough out into the ocean that no one would see him. He glanced around as he finally poked his head above water. Off in the distance he could just barely make out the pier. From what he could tell it was much more crowded than he would have liked. To be safe he was going to make a wide arch around the island to find a safe spot to go ashore.

The safest place ended up being the cove by his house. Exhausted he pulled himself up onto the sand and lay there. He had swum for nearly an hour in total, waiting until the coast was absolutely clear. His body ached and his leg muscles twitched. Without his tail he wasn't nearly as strong or as fast as he should have been. He could only hold his breathe for around ten minutes at a that time and it bugged him. In fact, he was a little shocked to realize how much it really did bother him. He no longer felt like he really belonged in the ocean. If today's incident also proved anything, he didn't belong on land either.

Pulling himself out of the surf's reach, he finally kicked off his socks and shoes. His toes were cramping and as he stared at them, he swore the webbing looked thicker and longer. Shaking his head, he tried to stand, only to collapse back to the sand as his knees buckled. He tried again and found that he couldn't get his knees to bend properly or hold his weight.

Now he was starting to panic. He hadn't swum in the ocean like this for a couple months. There had been maybe one or two dips here and there, but nothing to this extent. He had avoided it, afraid that this exact thing would happen. What had it done to him? He reached for his backpack where he kept his phone, only to remember that he'd left it behind on the pier. If he didn't have his phone to call for help, what could he do? The only solution was to go swimming for help. He looked back at the ocean and saw John Wheatly's boat plugging toward shore. How grateful he was to that man and his routines. If he swam fast enough, he should be able to reach him before he docked.

Crawling with mostly his arms and hips, Cody inched back into the mellow surf and swam towards the old, rickety boat. His socks and shoes lay discarded in the sand behind him.

-TSLOF-

John whistled quietly to himself as he steered his boat towards the docks. He was late meeting his son to go over his haul from the day. Today's pickings had been slim, but he didn't mind. He really just enjoyed being out on the water.

The familiar wooden platforms surrounded by fishing boats came into view. He adjusted his hat and realigned the steering while he dropped his speed. The quieting of the engine brought his attention to the voice echoing inside his head. Slightly startled he lowered himself to the main deck and looked over into the dark water.

"Cody!"

Sighing, Cody waived, struggling to keep himself afloat in the boat's wake.

'Mr. Wheatly! Can you stop your boat for a moment?' He swam forward as he projected his thoughts, he legs feeling like rubber attached to his hips.

"Of course. Hold on a just one moment."

Mr. Wheatly momentarily disappeared back up the ladder and cut the boat's engines. Hurrying back down he grabbed the anchor and chucked it over the side. It took a couple minutes, but finally Cody was able to grab the drop ladder in the back and take a breather.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" John was leaning over the water, staring at him.

Cody didn't even know where to start. 'Can I climb aboard first?' He felt so exhausted he could have fallen asleep right there. His mind was foggy and he was finding it hard to send his thoughts.

"Sure, sure." John stared down at him, waiting. It took another moment but he finally realized just how exhausted the young man must be. He reached down grabbed his wrists. "Just hold onto my arms and I'll help ya."

Nodding gratefully, Cody went to grab the plaid long sleeves and stopped. His hands were covered in blue, silver and green scales. He needed to get far away from the water. Latching tight to the older man and with much huffing and heaving they were able to slip him up over the side of the boat.

Cody knew by John's reaction that he was worse for the wear than he had thought. He closed his eyes and lay there on the well-worn deck wood. There was no way he was ready to look at the state his legs were in just yet.

"Cody, son?" Mr. Wheatly sounded concerned, which was not a good sign. "I'm going to raise anchor and take us in. Jess should be there and he'll be able to help."

Nodding, Cody listened to the sounds as Mr. Wheatly got the boat moving again. The engines chugged as they slowly came back to life. After a couple minutes passed, Cody finally opened his eyes again.

The first thing he elected to inspect was his hands. His palms were covered in scales, glimmering in the early evening light. His wrists were bare and he was relieved that his wrist fins hadn't grown in as well. With a huff he propped himself into a sitting position and frowned down at his legs. His feet were gone, replaced by long, flat flippers. His knees lay flat and rubbery. He was half-way to having a tail. Scales even covered his ankles and up his calves. Taking off his shoes must have left enough space for the transformation to progress faster.

His head was heavy and he was feeling dizzy as he heard Mr. Wheatly shout to shore. Fear gripped him in his haze as he realized there could be other people around. His world tilted as he rolled over looking for a blanket to cover himself. An old ratty tarp served the same purpose as he yanked it over him. A flashback to when he had first changed bombarded him. He'd been on the same boat in nearly a similar situation. Only this time his mother wasn't here to help him.

The boat jarred as it connected with the dock. Mr. Wheatly had climbed back down and was throwing lines to the anchor hitch on the dock. He could hear Jess calling back to his dad as they worked in tandem to secure the vessel.

Cody caught his name in the conversation, but he was too out of it to pay attention to much else. Then Jess was kneeling by him as his vision grew fuzzy.

'Hey Jess,' he managed to think. Then he fell back against the deck, exhaustion and stress finally winning over and sending him unconscious.

-TSLOF-

Jess stared down at his friend, barely able to catch his head as his eyes rolled back and he passed out.

"Cody?" Jess pulled back the tarp and gasped. "Dad! What happened?"

John left the lines, sure they were secure, and stood by his son. "No idea. I was coming towards the docks and he just appeared port side. He looked like that when I pulled him aboard."

"I left him at school just over an hour ago. He was completely normal!" Jess ran a hand through his moppy hair.

"We need to get him inside and get his folks called." John replaced the tarp over the young merman, worried other people might see. Jess nodded and with his dad's help wrapped him in a net. Disguised as one of John's salvage hauls they helped the passed out merman inside and into the bathroom. Jess worried over his friend as his dad went to call the Griffiths. He was just about to start the water when he heard a weak voice in his head.

'Don't.'

The thought was quiet but firm. Nodding, Jess sat back on his heels and met his groggy friend's eyes.

'Am I laying in your tub again?' Cody blinked, clearing his blurry eyes, and pushed himself into a half sitting position. His flippers slipped against the slick linoleum, offering little help.

"Yeah. My dad's calling your parents to come get you."

Cody nodded and then let himself slide back down in the tub, unable to keep himself sitting with the way his legs were. He stared down at his fins as his vision cleared slightly and a heavy headache formed behind his eyes.

After a momentary pause Jess finally had to ask. "What happened?" He was incredulous. "Why did you go swimming in the ocean? Weren't you worried something like this could happen?"

'Sean and two guys cornered me.' Cody closed his eyes. 'It was just after you left. I had to get away and in the end, the ocean was the only way out.' He would tell him about the lights and whole sending Sean flying later when his brain didn't feel like imploding.

"You couldn't have come here?" Jess didn't get it.

'I was trying to catch the ferry, but it wasn't there. People were starting to stare and I guess I panicked.' He closed his eyes tight and let his head lolled back. 'I did the only thing a merman could do.'

Jess frowned and took a closer look at his friend. His face was drawn and from the way he was squinting his eyes tightly shut, he probably had a massive headache. His fins had shrunk a little bit and some scales had flaked off, but he was still far from being human.

A knock came from the bathroom door as Mr. Wheatly poked his head in. "Your parents are on their way."

'Thanks Mr. Wheatly.' Cody didn't open his eyes.

"Of course. Jess, why don't you go work on your homework and let Cody rest a little?"

Standing, Jess gave his best friend an uncertain look and then left without a word.

With the bathroom door shut, the merman sighed again and cracked an eye open. Why was Jess so upset? It wasn't like this was happening to him. As he sat there, he could feel his knees and feet struggling to reform. He held up his hands and let his current run through him.

The pain blossomed quickly and he could only hold it for a few seconds as his head began to feel like it was splitting open. Wincing he pressed his scaled hands to his temples, hoping that would offer a little relief. After a minute of deep breathing he peeked down at his legs again and was unsurprised to see that nothing had changed.

His parents found him ten minutes later. His eyes were pressed tightly shut with his arms braced around himself. His feet still looked like flippers, but slightly more humanoid looking with some scales sluffed off in the tub.

"Son?" His dad knelt down next to the tub while Sharon and John stood by the door.

Cody blinked slowly, his eyes dilating wide with the bright bathroom light. He couldn't get his thoughts straight well enough to think anything, but he did manage a pained smile.

"We're going to get you home. Just rest."

The three adults backed out of the bathroom, keep their voices hushed.

"Thank you for helping him John." Whit hugged his wife.

"I'm just glad I was in the right place at the right time." He glanced back toward Jess's bedroom where his son was reading through his biology textbook. "Jess was able to get a couple answers out of him. It seems Sean and some swim team members cornered him."

"So he had to jump into the ocean?" Sharon shook her head. "Something drastic must have happened for him to take that resort."

John shook his head. "You'll have to ask him when he's feeling better. He doesn't look good, but he told Jess not to fill up the tub."

Whit nodded. "He's probably worried that if he stays wet he won't change back."

"We'll get him home and into bed. Thanks again to you and Jess. I don't know what we would do without the two of you." Sharon gave John a brief hug and then gave her husband a nod.

Walking back into the bathroom, Sharon knelt by the tub this time and ran a hand through her son's shaggy hair. It was getting long again and reminded her of when they had just gotten him back.

'Mom?' The one word broke through Cody's tired thoughts.

"Hi honey. We're going to get you to your own bed to sleep okay? Do you think you can try sitting up for us?"

Cody squinted as he tried to focus through the pain in his head. Using his sticky, slightly scaled hands, he pushed himself into a sitting position. His fins looked more like feet, his toes starting to form as the webbing shrunk and receded a little more.

His dad and John reached down and lifted him under the arms to try and help him stand. His ankles and knees still refused to hold his weight. Grunting the older men struggled to lift his legs into their arms, carrying him between them cradle style to the car. Sharon rushed around with a blanket, draping it over his legs as they ventured outside to where the minivan waited. Cody was placed on the middle bench, the blanket tucked around him as he closed his eyes again.

John hopped into his old tow truck and followed the Griffiths as they drove home. Jess stood in the doorway, having watched part of the spectacle. What had his friend gotten himself into?

Sorry again that this took so long. School just keeps taking more and more of my time. Now that I'm on holiday, I'm going to try and get at least one more chapter posted for you all. Happy swimming!