Callie checked her watch, tapping her foot on the floor with boredom. Rikki and Zane had gone to their bedroom to talk, leaving her alone in the living room. The front door swung open as Will hurried inside.

"You're early." Callie stood. "Meeting doesn't start 'til nine."

"I know." Will's eyes scanned the room. "Where is Charlie?"

"You heard?" Callie's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Of course." Will nodded, frowning a bit. "We all got the message just after you'd left the café."

"Well, frankly, I'm glad you're here." Callie grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and popped the cap. "Rikki and Zane are having select words in their room, and Charlie's been out in the pool 'finding himself' for the last hour and a half."

"How's he handling it?" Will peered through the window blinds towards the direction of the pool.

"Not bad." Callie shrugged. "You know how it is."

"Thankfully, I do not." Will snatched the beer out of Callie's hand, taking a long swig.

"C'mon." Callie waved for Will to follow her." Let's go haul the merman out of the drink."

Charlie was swimming in lazy circles as they walked up. Callie flickered the pool light a few times to get his attention before joining Will at the pool's edge. Charlie flew up to the surface with so much force he almost launched himself clear out of the water. He settled, reaching for the pool rim before looking up. "Hey." He called to Will.

"Hey yourself." Will crossed his arms over his chest, observing. "You, uh, ready to hop out of there?"

"Already?" Charlie flipped over to float on his back, looking up at the stars.

"You bet." Callie straightened up, looking around. "Swim to the steps, k?" She jogged around to meet him.

With Callie and Will under each arm, they dropped him onto the pool deck moments later.

"Geez, guys, easy." Charlie winced a bit as he pushed himself up to rest on his right hand and reach for a towel with the other.

"I've got it." Callie carried over a beach towel. "You dry your skin, I'll worry about your tail." She bent down and gently pressed the towel against the bottom of his fin.

Will's eyes darted from Callie to Charlie, a look of bemusement on his face. "I'm, uh, I'm going in to say hi to your folks." Will walked backwards, pausing at the gate. "Want me to get your mom? You know she could dry you off in five seconds…"

"I know." Charlie shrugged." But I'll need to get used to it anyway, right?"

"Fair enough,." Will waved, preoccupied, before locking the gate behind him.

Callie moved up a bit, sitting on her knees to keep toweling at Charlie's fin.

"Hey." Charlie startled her. He leaned back on his hands, looking at her for a moment.

Callie's face flushed as she shrugged, feeling suddenly self-conscious. "What?" She fidgeted, her arm resting on his fin.

"Just… thank you." Charlie spoke quietly, seriously. "I don't know what I would do without you."

Callie couldn't keep a smile from spreading across her face. Her brain rattled through its usual catalogue of sarcasm, but nothing fit. "You're welcome." She said simply before setting back to work drying him off, almost reaching the top of his fin.

Charlie hoped she knew how much he meant it. He couldn't imagine not being able to talk to her about all this. Callie had been such a good friend to him…

Callie froze for a moment before yanking her hand away from him as if it'd been bitten.

"Oh my god." She said quickly, jumping to her feet and turning her back to him as her face flushed a deep crimson. "Dude, I am so sorry."

"Wha…" Charlie frowned, looking down at the towel Callie had dropped over his waist towards the top of his tail.

It was tented.

Charlie shoved his hand under the towel, shocked to find that, well, he was still decidedly… very male. After a bit of exploration, Charlie found that his penis had been sheathed under an extra layers of scales located several inches from where scales melded into skin. It felt almost the same as it had when he was a man, but… cooler. And harder.

Harder.

"Holy shit, Callie." Charlie's face turned instantly scarlet as he clutched the towel, covering himself. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen. I mean, I didn't even know I still had a… I mean, I'm just sorry."

"Erotic towel massage. I think I found my calling." Unable to look Charlie in the eye, Callie took a long swig of Will's beer.

Several awkward seconds of silence passed as the pair avoided each other's gaze.

"So I'll just see you inside then?"

"Sure, right." Charlie answered instantly, nodding as he watched Callie practically run towards the house. He waited to hear the door slam behind her before dropping to lay on his back, letting out a long sigh.


The living room was full by the time Charlie made it inside. Every eye focused in on him as he entered. Charlie waved awkwardly, his eyes searching for Callie. He spotted her alone on the loveseat and immediately headed her direction.

Callie averted her eyes, staring off in the other direction as Charlie dropped down next to her.

"Nice legs." Callie sounded like her usual self, though she still couldn't quite look at him.

"I'm really sorry about… you know, what happened out there." Charlie muttered, leaning in so that no one else could hear him speak.

"Hey, don't sweat it." Two spots of pink showed on her cheeks, but she finally met Charlie's gaze. "I mean…" She raised one eyebrow, a familiar look of coyness on her face. "It's no big deal. At all."

Charlie elbowed her as his parents stood, with Zane taking command of the room.

"Thanks for coming over, you guys." Zane ran a tired hand through his hair as he looked to Will, Bella, Cleo, Lewis, Charlie, and Callie in turn. "So, I've heard from my Dad, and we know what to expect for at least the next several weeks.

"Now, wait a tick, Zane…" Bella sat up. I think, first of all, congratulations are in order…"

"That's right!" Lewis grinned, raising his glass.

Several hands reached out to slap Charlie on the shoulder as congratulatory cheers were shouted out.

"Alright, pull it together guys." Zane stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "Guys!" He clapped his hands loudly to get everyone's attention. "Please!"

Silence fell across the room. Bella slumped back into the couch, rolling her eyes. "Oh, get on with it, then."

"I'm sorry." Zane's voice became gentler, weary. "We just have so much to cover, and we still have to explain the whole thing to Callie and Charlie."

"It's fine." Rikki placed a hand on Zane's shoulder, standing next to him reassuringly. "Guys…" She turned to face the loveseat. Alright, I need to tell you about something that happened when we were kids. And then, we all have to have a discussion." She looked at each of them separately. "Ok, listen closely."

"Yeah." Zane took a deep breath. "And I think I'll let the girls tell all this first bit; I'm getting a beer." He turned swiftly to stalk into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, guys." Rikki sighed watching as he disappeared. "This one is still a pretty touchy subject for him."

"Just go on." Cleo said as she leaned forward, resting her chin in one hand.

Rikki breathed deeply. "Ok. Alright, guys." She turned to Callie and Charlie. "When we were young, and still relatively new to this whole mermaid thing, there was this scientist who did some research in the area." Rikki paced as she spoke.

"Denman." Cleo straightened up.

"It was before we'd met Bella." Rikki nodded, continuing,. "Our friend Emma was still in town. And Lewis…" She shot him a look. "Lewis became, shall we say… smitten with the scientist in town briefly to study the habitual patterns of Mako Island. Fell in love with her, practically-"

"Hey now." Lewis shifted uncomfortable in his seat.

"It's fine, Lewis." Cleo wrapped a reassuring arm around his shoulder, pulling him in tightly.

"Anyway…" Rikki stopped pacing right in front of the loveseat. "I'll just leave out all the extraneous details… but Denman caught us. As mermaids. She trapped the three of us, Emma, Cleo, and me, out on Mako. She wanted to run tests on us."

"Bitch." Bella muttered, crossing her arms.

"Seriously?" Callie sat up, concerned. She looked to each of her parents in turn. "How have I never heard about this?"

"We… don't discuss it much." Cleo patted Lewis's knee. She lowered her voice, leaning towards Callie as if she were telling a secret. "Your father doesn't like to be reminded about his role in the event. Well, and neither does Zane."

"Zane played a bigger role than Lewis did." Rikki also spoke in hushed tones, her eyes glued to the floor in front of her. "Really, he practically led Denman to us. But," She shook herself out of her momentary trance. "He didn't know what he was doing. We just don't discuss that time in our lives much."

"Until lately, anyway." Bella spoke up.

"Right." Rikki continued. "Anyway, we ended up tricking her into thinking we were just regular humans, but not before she'd collected quite a lot of evidence."

"What kind of evidence?"Charlie frowned.

"Pictures." Rikki ticked the items on her fingers. "A cell sample that changed its genetic makeup upon contact with water, some video, general data she was able to collect before we got rid of her."

"Soo.. You said you tricked her into thinking you were human?" Callie spoke slowly. "How?"

Cleo spoke up. "It's a thing, once every fifty years, the full moon can take away powers for a twelve hour period."

"And after that she just left you alone?" Charlie asked incredulously. "Just like that?"

"No."Rikki sighed. "And that's why we're all meeting tonight. Things are going to be changing, and in a big way."

"How so?" this time Will stepped forward, his expression grim.

"Our contract with Denman is expiring." Zane stepped out of the shadows, his jaw clenched tightly.

Charlotte and Lewis gave a definite reaction, slumping back into the couch in anger. However, they were the only two other than Rikki and Zane who seemed to know what was going on.

"Contract?" Will raised a shoulder.

"Zane?" Rikki gestured for him to speak. "Why don't you handle this part?"

Zane crossed his arms over his chest, taking a wide stance in the middle of the room. "My Dad had a contract drawn up with Denman back then, right after everything happened." He shuffled his feet a bit. "We didn't know anything about it, but Denman had been planning on taking the research she had collected on the girls and going public with it. The pictures, cell sample, everything. Even without the girls themselves, she thought she had enough to prove to the world that mermaids could exist." Zane paused, the tension in the room palpable. "My Dad forced her to sign a contract that stated that if she published even a word of the mermaid research or anything even related to mermaids, he would sue her for using his sponsorship dollars on something other than the fish counts she was hired to collect. Not only would she have owed him just shy of four million dollars, but she also would have faced jail time. It was enough to shut her up back then.

"Alright…" Cleo prompted. "So what's going on now?"

Zane let out a long, slow, exhale. "It expired."

"Expired?!" Lewis stood, anger clear on his face.

"Well, is expiring." Zane said unhappily. "I didn't know anything about it then, my Dad only told me a few months ago." Zane almost seemed to be talking to himself instead of the rest of the group. "My Dad couldn't legally get her to agree to anything that banned her research completely. He could only delay it. He ended up buying us twenty-five years of Denman's silence, but it's running out."

"So what does that mean, exactly?" Cleo asked worriedly, reaching for Lewis's hand.

"What it means, is that Denman will be publishing her research from twenty-five years ago." Zane clenched his jaw tightly. "She'll be announcing to the world that mermaids exist."

"What?" Bella jumped to her feet. "She can't, she just-"

"We won't let her." Will cut her off vehemently, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok." Zane held up a hand, gesturing for everyone to quiet down. "At least, it's kind of ok." He swallowed, pausing.

"Keep going, Zane." Bella waved him on nervously.

"Since you guys… all of us… were minors, and she did obtain most of her data illegally, she won't be able to give any of our names or personal information." Zane stammered out.

"So… what can she say, exactly?" Lewis shifted in his seat.

"She can show her photos, but only with the faces blocked out so you girls can't be identified. She can share all of her research on the cell sample she found, the one that reacted to water. All of her theories, everything she's seen an recorded, all of her theories…"

"And the moon pool?" Cleo asked softly.

Zane nodded, his eyes glued to the floor in front of him. "She can release everything she knows about the moon pool."

Silence fell over the room, each of them momentarily lost in their thoughts,

"Does… Denman know how to become a mermaid?" Bella spoke up after several seconds.

"I don't think so." Rikki shook her head. "Or I'd think she'd have made it happen by now."

"But she does know that all it takes is one drop of water and bang, fin." Lewis rubbed his temple, exhausted.

"We won't be certain of what she does or doesn't know until she publishes." Zane said grimly. "But you're all," He shot a pointed look in Charlie's direction. "Going to need to be ten times more careful than you usually are, got it?" He looked to either side before continuing, "Denman's research may not be taken seriously. It might just fade away into obscurity, but if even one scientist sets up cameras…"

"We're caught." Rikki finished grimly.

"No one will take her seriously." Will paced angrily. "It's way too wild, she'll get laughed at."

"She's got some pretty compelling research though," Lewis worried. "That cell sample alone-"

"Guys… guys." Rikki held up both hands to quiet the chatter. "She can't expose us. We're safe as long as we're all careful. She thought we were human back then, she probably still thinks that."

"What's to keep her from publishing all of our names anyway?" Cleo raised and dropped her shoulders. "Defying the order?"

"Prison." Zane spoke clearly. "Same thing that's kept her from exposing us for all these years. My
Dad put some kind of clause in the contract she signed. Since we were so young and what she did was so illegal… I mean, there would be four cases of kidnapping brought up against her immediately, and that's just the start of it. She also would have been on the hook for the millions my Dad had paid her; it was enough to do the trick then, it should hold now. And now she thinks that you girls are all human, so as long as we keep our distance from her… everything should be fine."

"Not just girls anymore." Charlie spoke for the first time in several moments, drawing every eye in the room.

"Right." Rikki nodded. "So, um, all of us are going to need to be extra careful."

"And Mako?" Bella furrowed her brow as she leaned forward.

Rikki looked at her feet, sighing. "I really think we should nix all trips out there. Immediately. Denman knows that place holds significance, she could set up more cameras."

"And this time there's not much we can do about it if she records any of us." Lewis sank further into his seat.

Will exhaled audibly, his hands resting on his hips. "So when is she publishing?"

"Not sure exactly." Zane crossed his arms. "But soon, I expect."

"I'll ask into it." Lewis spoke up. "The science world is small, someone at work will have heard something."

"Just don't ask too loudly." Cleo cautioned. "Don't draw attention."

"Of course not." Lewis took Cleo's hand in his own.

"So that's that." Zane shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Denman will be telling the world that mermaids are real. All we can do is wait and see if anyone takes her seriously."

"We'll need to warn Lucy, and quick." Lewis said, distracted as his phone began ringing in his pocket. He checked the caller ID as he continued speaking. "I mean, It's not out of the realm of possibility that Denman could track her down from her college records…" He held his phone up, flipping it open. "Sorry guys, I've got to take this." Lewis excused himself to the office, shutting the door behind him.

Rikki turned to Charlie and Callie. "You two realize how serious this is, right? Even you, Callie. You'll need to be extra careful just in case."

"I get it, Mrs. B." Callie nodded. "It's just an awful lot to take in."

"We have no reason to worry." Cleo tried to sound reassuring, but she didn't fool anyone. "As long as we stay away from Denman we'll be just fine."

"Hey, uh, everybody?" Lewis stepped back into the living room, his face uncharacteristically worried. He waved his phone in the air awkwardly. "That was the lab from work. A, um…" He looked down for a moment before leveling his eyes at the rest of the now-silent group.

"Denman wants to meet with me. Tomorrow."