The hours passed by quickly as the group, joined by Zane's father, Harrison, worked carefully on the talking points for their meeting with Denman. Tensions ran high as the group threw out suggestions to one another. After a while the roar of enthusiasm faded into a somewhat grim acceptance of what they were facing, and quiet took over the room.

Lewis's phone chirped from its place on the table, making Rikki jump. "She sent the address." He said as his fingers quickly plugged it into his phone. "She's having us meet her at the aquatic research center." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he looked to his friends. "A little on-the-nose, don't you think?"

"She'll have reporters there." Charlie grabbed a set of sunglasses from the side table, sliding them up into his curly hair. "We should be prepared for that. And mom-" He turned to Rikki, concern clear on his face as a thought occurred to him. "You shouldn't go. None of the mermaids should go." He looked to Cleo and Bella in turn. "Don't make it easier for her to expose your secrets. Stay home, we will tell you what she says."

"Charlie is right; I was thinking the same thing." Will nodded, looking to Lewis for confirmation, who agreed.

"But won't that look even more suspicious?" Bella furrowed her brow in thought. "If we don't show? Don't you think it'll throw up a red flag to her?"

"I don't care if it does." Lewis said forcefully, surprising her with his strong tone as his eyes locked on to hears in a laser-like gaze. "Now, you girls are my friends and you need to listen to me." He swallowed hard. "If her evil grand plan does include revealing your secret... you're not going to give her the satisfaction of doing it on her terms." He looked to each of them. "Let her start what ever rumors she wants, but stay out of the spotlight." A tightness gripped his throat as he looked at Cleo. "Please."

"You got it." Cleo squeezed her husband's shoulder reassuringly, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Lewis." Rikki agreed. "We'll be careful. We'll stay here."

Bella nodded, sharing a meaningful look with Will before heading into the kitchen. She gave him a slight nod before disappearing through the door. A nod that did not go completely unnoticed by the rest of the room.

Will shuffled his feet slightly, pretending not to notice the eyes that landed on him, each waiting to see what he would do next. Sheepishly, Will followed her, trying not to draw attention to himself as he slunk from the room.

"Well, at least something good is coming from this situation." Rikki elbowed Cleo in the ribs. "Those two certainly seem to be... rekindling..."

Callie rolled her head to the side to catch sight of Charlie. "So, the kitchen seems to be the designated let's-talk-in-private room. Maybe we started a trend." Callie nodded toward the still swinging kitchen door as she forced a dry laugh, trying to get the smallest of grins from her friend.

"Yeah." Charlie said grimly, steeling his expression as butterflies kicked in his stomach. "Wish me luck." He felt like if he talked about any of this any more that he would lose it. All he wanted was for the stress to be lifted; to be able to enjoy his new abilities. He walked toward the back of the house, pausing to look back at Callie one more time before turning to disappear down the hall towards the back door.

"Good luck." Callie said to herself as she watched him go, feeling somehow as if she was saying goodbye to him for the last time.

"Alright, it's time, guys. He's here." Zane called from the hall, where he'd been keeping watch at the window.

Will and Lewis appeared a moment later, after saying their goodbyes to Cleo and Bella. Bella, Callie noticed, was blushing slightly as she stepped out of the kitchen after Will.

Lewis checked carefully, but it didn't appear like the reporters had caught on to Charlie's location just yet. They hurried to their cars. Zane and Charlie got into Harrison's SUV, which had just pulled up around back, and Lewis and Will climbed into Will's jeep.

"Hey, Char." Harrison called from the drivers seat, turning to reach a hand towards Charlie, who shook it hard.

"Hey Grandpa." Charlie gave an awkward wave as he sat back and buckled in, unsure of exactly what to say to his father's father next. He'd always considered them close, but this situation was something neither of them felt totally comfortable discussing easily just yet. Luckily, Zane began talking the moment the car door shut, allowing Charlie to tune out of the conversation and focus on the meeting until they were a couple blocks away from the research lab. Charlie breathed deeply, trying to keep himself cool and confident as they approached the institution's imposing main gate.

"Here we are." Harrison said grimly as he steered the vehicle toward the white security gate in front of the driveway.

"Charlie Bennett, meeting Linda Denman." Harrison said quietly to the attendant through the window, trying not to draw attention to the vehicle.

"Bennett..." The elderly gentleman scrolled down the list on the clipboard in front of him. "Charlie, you said?"

Harrison nodded, accepting the parking pass handed to him. He nodded his thanks as he pulled around to the building's side entrance.

"Son of a bitch." Zane muttered as they turned the corner.

Reporters were swarming out of the building and towards the car, having been clearly tipped off to their arrival. Their shouting only grew louder as they pulled up in front of the building, light bulbs flashing as reporters with microphones flashed toothy grins at Charlie in between questions.

"You two go ahead inside, quick." Harrison pulled in front of the door. "I'll be right behind you. I'm not sure if there's another entrance."

"Ready, Char?" Zane seemed almost nervous as he surveyed the sea of cameras.

"You bet." Charlie swallowed hard before following his father out of the SUV.

The roar of the crowd was almost similar to the brief sound Charlie heard when he dove into the water. Zane held Charlie close to his side, blocking the waves of people as he pushed his way towards the door. Hands reached out at them as they worked their way to the metal entrance; they clasped his sleeves and the cuffs of his pants as he walked, and Charlie winced as he felt someone yank out a few follicles of hair from his scalp. It took a few seconds to reach the door. Zane wrenched it open, pushing Charlie inside in front of him.

"Vultures." Zane muttered, straightening his tie as the pair adjusted to the sudden peace and quiet of the echoey building.

"Damn..." Charlie's eyes darted around him, taking in his surroundings. The calmness felt almost too serene. Too serene to be real after all that chaos. "This place is massive. And press aren't allowed in here?

"No." Zane shook his head as he started down the hall. "This way."

Even though there were no reporters or cameras in sight, Charlie felt infinitely more self-conscious as he walked down the short hall to Denman's office. Scientists left and right didn't even try to hide their fascination as they gawked at Charlie. They leaned out their office doors, some grabbing their phones to take pictures as he walked brusquely by, trying to act like he didn't notice the attention. Their hushed whispers of excitement echoed off the linoleum as they nudged each other.

"Through here." Zane gestured grimly, casting his eyes along the hall condescendingly at the white-coated workers before pushing open Denman's office door.

Charlie took a deep breath as he walked into the clinically sterile blue office. Zane followed him inside, closing the door tightly behind them to shut out prying eyes.

Denman was ready, waiting for them behind a huge metal desk. The walls and floors were all a solid hospital-white, with nothing on display but a few awards and diplomas.

"Charlie." She smiled widely. She sat up a little taller, though she made no effort to move towards them. "Thank you so much for agreeing to cooperate in my further research regarding-"

"I haven't agreed to anything just yet." Charlie said firmly, lifting his chin slightly as he stared down at the scientist. He felt like he might might be playing a tad melodramatic, but he went with it anyway. What did he have to lose? "I'm only here to talk."

"Of course." Denman's smile had the faintest hint of a smirk in it as she gestured to a table and chairs on the far end of the office. "Have a seat gentleman. Let's talk about how we can begin to work out our-"

Zane rolled his eyes. "Oh, cut it out, Denman." He dropped unceremoniously into one of the four leather seats. "Let's lay it all out, I'm not here to be polite."

Denman raised an eyebrow, her eyes narrowing on Zane before sliding over to Charlie's. She tilted her head slightly as she spoke coolly. "Why don't Charlie and I discuss things one on one, then? Cut right to the negotiating of terms I'm sure you've all discussed. Who all was at this discussion, hm? Lewis?" Her lip curled slightly. "Rikki?"

"You want me to leave him alone with you?" Zane snorted . "Nice try, D."

"No, Dad, she's right." Charlie crossed his arms, his eyes never wavering from the doctor's. "This is between the two of us. I can handle it."

Denman cast and appraising look over Charlie. "You are different from your father, aren't you? He couldn't do anything without running for daddy's help." She shook her head mockingly, raising her shoulders. "I mean, Harrison is on his way up here right now, isn't he?"

Zane clenched his jaw, angrily tapping his foot on the floor.

"Charlie's a grown man." Denman pursed her lips. "Don't you trust him?" Her head tilted to one side as she challenged Zane.

"I'll be just outside the door." After a long moment, Zane answered. He stood, leaning in close to Charlie. "Call if you need me." He shot one last vicious look at Denman before wrenching open the door. He slammed it so hard the walls on the frames on the wall shook in his wake.

"Well, aren't we glad he's gone." Denman said conversationally as she took a seat at her desk, gesturing for Charlie to take the opposing one. She flipped her blonde hair over one shoulder as she leaned forward on her elbows. "Charlie, let's chat."

"Let's." Charlie tried to hide his triumph. This was all going according to the plan he'd worked out with the others. Make Denman think that she had him alone, that she had an advantage. He'd been worried she wouldn't take the bait, but she'd behaved exactly like Zane and Lewis had assumed she would. Charlie sat down confidently, taking in a long satisfied breath. "So do you go first or should I?" He forced his voice to remain level as his heart felt like it might pound out of his chest.

"Why don't you go ahead." Denman kicked back, resting her elbows on the arms of her chair. "I'm always glad to listen to whatever Lewis and his mini think-tank are coming up with."

"Alright. My terms are simple." Charlie pushed back slightly, resting his elbows on the cool arms of his chair. After a moment to collect himself and a last deep breath, Charlie launched into the speech he'd been rehearsing in his head since they left the house. "You'll work with me. Me alone. You will leave everyone else out of it."

"Of course." Denman nodded.

"I mean it, though." Charlie didn't have to pretend that he was dead serious as the tone in his voice darkened. He had never meant anything more. "If you so much as mention my mother's name, or Cleo, or even Lewis, or anything about them I'll-"

"You'll what?" Denman cocked her head to one side, bemused.

"I'll stop working with you." Charlie promised. "And we will tell the world about what you did to the girls when they were kids."

"It wouldn't matter." Denman shrugged a shoulder, laughing to herself. "Everyone already knows what you are, your secret is out-"

"But yours isn't." Charlie spoke evenly, his voice strong. "No one knows how you obtained your initial research or data. And if they did..." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. "Sure, your research will still go down in history, but what will happen to you? Somehow I find it hard to believe that people will look at you with respect when they have found out that you have kidnapped people, stolen research, threatened kids, threatened my family..." He smirked, enjoying the pained expression beginning to take over Denman's face. "I can talk. I can have the media eating out of my hands. And I can ruin you."

Denman swallowed, though her face regained its stoic calm. "I can assure you, Mr. Bennet." She spoke with a practiced, though not altogether disingenuous calm. "It is in both of our best interests to trust each other. I gain nothing by lying to you."

"You're right. But the thing is, I've given you no reason not to trust me." Charlie shook his head slightly. "And you, well..." He raised his shoulders. "You're going to have to prove to me that you're worth putting my faith in."

Denman sighed, one hand absently tapping on the desk. "And what exactly is it you want from me then?"

"You're not just going to promise not to mention anyone else." Charlie said firmly, leaning forward on his elbows as he lowered his voice to a threatening level. "You, Denman, will actively work to protect them. And if anyone finds out anything about anyone's personal life but mine?" He patted the desk hard, slightly harder than he'd meant to. "Your career is over. Your name will go down in history but your legacy will only be a disgrace."

Demens calm exterior cracked apart as her eyes shot open. "What? You can't be serious; with all the press that'll be surrounding you there's virtually no way of ensuring that their identities will be preserved or-"

"Exactly." Charlie leapt to his feet, slamming his hands on the desk in front of him days of built up tension seemed to burst out of him as he raised his voice. "I will do exactly what you did to me, Denman. I will make exposing you and what you've done completely out of your control. I'll thrust you into the spotlight without so much as letting you know to expect it." His chest heaved as he sucked in air. "My family has worked its ass off to keep the secret. You took that away from them and handed it over to the world without even blinking." He exhaled forcefully. "You didn't give me a choice, or even a warning. So at least consider yourself at an advantage you didn't give us." He sat back down and tried to force civility back into his voice. "Those are my terms. My only term, really. If the media finds out anything about my family or friends that they didn't want to get out? We release it all. My grandfather still has all of your early videos, too. One where you've got Lewis bound, gagged, and locked up. One where you're threatening the girls. The sixteen year old girls-"

"I get it. Just stop talking, ok?" Denman stood, holding up one hand to stop his tirade as she closed her eyes in exasperation. She clenched her jaw, exhaling through her lower teeth as she composed her thoughts.

Charlie allowed the faintest hint of triumph show through his tone as he relished her defeat. "As long as we are clear, then."

"The thing we should emphasize, you know..." Denman spoke plainly, quickly dropping her proper and polite demeanor for her more authentic sneer. "Is that, no matter what terms we set, this partnership is really based on nothing but trust. If we don't trust each other this is going to be a difficult process."

"Right." Charlie nodded one. "I definitely need to be able to trust you."

The blond doctor sat gingerly in her office chair, regaining her restrained composure. "Just as I have to be able to trust you."

"Me?" Charlie's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "Why wouldn't you trust me? I'm here, aren't I?"

Denman continued. "Part of this agreement involves you living outside the confines of a scientific facility, does it not?"

"Of course." Charlie shrugged. "I'm not living in some science lab."

"So I will be trusting that you won't just pack up and leave the country." Dunnmon lifted her chin.

Charlie scoffed. "I'm not planning on going anywhere, D. You keep your end of our bargain, I'll keep mine." His eyes met hers. "I'm not you."

"Well then." Denman sat a little straighter as she reached for a manila folder on her desk. "I'll keep an eye out for your people, and let's chat specifics."


Zane and Harrison wore matching blank expressions as Denman's office door swung open to them a while later. Charlie's face was unreadable, though the slightest hint of a glimmer sparkled in his eyes.

"And?" Zane asked, his eyes darting behind Charlie into the office behind him.

"She agreed to everything." Charlie said tiredly, stretching his arms over his head. "We are set." He couldn't keep the grin from spreading across his face as he met his father's eyes.

Relief washed over Zanes face as he visibly exhaled. "Excellent." He threw his head back and breezed past Charlie into the office.

"Treaty agreed on, white flag waved, peace between everyone, yadda yadda." Denman rolled her eyes as the men walked inside. "Have a seat gents. We'll recap the terms, and then we can really get things started."

Harrison ignored her, speaking directly to Charlie as he approached his grandson. "And? You feel good about everything?"

"You bet." Charlie nodded confidently. In spite of everything that was going on, the biggest thing he felt washing through him was relief. Whatever was going to happen next, he was ready for it to get started.

"Charlie will be spending the rest of the day with me." Denman spoke as she thumbed through a stack of paperwork.

"What?" Zane stepped forward angrily. "Charlie, I am not-"

"It's okay, Dad." Charlie held up one hand to quiet his father. This, admittedly, hadn't been part of their original plan; they'd wanted to start tomorrow. Give themselves the rest of the day off. It had been Denman who'd insisted on the immediate session. "It's just until tonight and you can stay and watch if you want to. Any of you can."

"Yes." Denman said stiffly. "A term Charles wasn't interested in negotiating."

"We are just going to take a few measurements, get a few pictures." Charlie shrugged. "That sort of thing. Stuff she can use to get started."

"And Lewis is invited to both participate in and monitor my research." Denman spoke again.

"Just..." Zane's voice faded as he clearly weighed whether or not to press the point. "Just get started so we can get out of here." He said after a long moment of silence, turning to glare at the wall.

"I'll... text Lewis then." Charlie looked to Harrison, who didn't object. Instead, He seemed to be keeping a concerned eye on his son.

"We'll be using my private lab." Denman slid a white card out of her lab coat pocket. "Meet me there in 30 minutes." She used her thumb to press the card to Charlie's chest. "Your face will be your ticket in, tell anyone accompanying you to use the code 5498."

Charlie nodded, clumsily taking the card and tucking it into his shirt pocket.

Denman dropped behind her desk, sliding an outline of the terms she'd discussed with Charlie across the desktop to Harrison. "Quite basic, really. At least, as basic as things can be in this situation." She was saying as Charlie tapped out a quick message telling Lewis where to go. He darted a look at Zane, who was pointedly looking out the window, refusing to acknowledge anything going on around him. Charlie cleared his throat, gesturing to the room that he was stepping out to make a phone call while they wrapped up.

For a moment, Zane looked ready to follow him, but forced himself to wait in place, resuming his stony gaze out the window. Harrison jingled his keys, following Charlie out the door to head out to get the car.

"Hey, Cal." Charlie spoke quickly, hoping the press wouldn't find him out there. He didn't see anyone else around, but he ducked into an empty office just in case.

"I'm going to give you an address." Charlie paced slightly. "I'm working with Denman this afternoon. Your dad is coming, and mine will be there too."

"Okay. Callie said. "That sounds...fun?" She cleared her throat. "And?"

"I need you there too." Charlie said lamely. Of course he wanted to her there. Surely she knew that. Somehow, he'd thought she would have jumped at the chance to be on the inside of the situation.

"And... you need me there because..." Callie's eyebrows could almost be heard rising through the phone's speaker.

"Because I need you." The words escaped Charlie's mouth in a breath, making him stop in his tracks. "I mean-" He stammered. "I assumed... I just thought you'd want to be in on what's happening." He made a hard fist with one hand, hitting his legs frustratedly as he paced.

"Oh." An awkward silence followed. Callie swallowed hard. "Thanks for the invite, Char, but... I think I'll sit this one out."

"You're not..." Frown lines darkened Charlie's face as he processed her answer. "Oh, okay." He cleared his throat, suddenly all too aware of the awkward silence that was dominating the conversation. "I'll just, call you later and tell you about it then."

"Sounds good." Callie's voice finally came over the line. "Be careful, Char." Her voice hit a minor chord as she ended their talk.

Charleys eyes fell to the screen of his phone, still lit up with Callie's picture on the screen. She looked so much younger on his phone, though the pic had only been snapped a year ago. Charlie sighed as he clicked off the phone and turned to open the office door.

"Oh!" A startled brunette jumped as Charlie walked straight into her.

"Sorry!" Charlie hurriedly picked up a few of the files that had flown out of her hands at their impact.

"What were you doing in my office?" The girl crouched down next to him, carefully gathering her work. "We have a very strict privacy policy here-"

"I know, I'm sorry." Charlie stood, shoving his hands into his pockets sheepishly. "I just needed to make a phone call to a friend of-"

"Oh my god." Eyes shooting open wide, the girl jumped to her feet, dropping her papers everywhere. "You're Charlie Bennett." Her hand clasped his, shaking it enthusiastically. "We've been so excited to host you here, the advances we'll make together in the scientific community are unprecedented, really-"

"Yeah, um... good to meet you too." Charlie pulled his hand back, trying to hide his slight grimace as she gushed over him. "...And you are?"

"Oh! Sorry." She giggled, shyly tucking her chestnut hair behind one ear. "I'm Hannah. Linda's lab assistant. Well..." She shrugged a shoulder sheepishly. "Really I like to think of us as partners. She's taught me everything I know."

"I wouldn't brag about that too loudly." Charlie spoke too bluntly, immediately snapping his mouth shut.

"Hey now..." Hannah shook her head, though her smile never faded from her face. "She's really not that bad. Honestly, the woman is passionate about her work, and she may have made a few mistakes when she was much younger, but she's an incredible scientist. I'm just so excited to get started, I'll be working with you very closely at her lab." She walked with Charlie down the hall to Denman's office, never taking a breath. "So I guess I'll be seeing you in just a bit, right?"

"We're done here." Zane breezed out of the office door just before Charlie reached it, catching his son by the elbow as he passed. "Come on. Dad is pulling the car to the private exit."

Charlie stumbled after his father, barely managing to stammer a goodbye to Hannah. They soon reached the nondescript black door that led to the side exit, where Harrison was just arriving.

"Come on." Zane pushed Charlie out the door in front of him, covering him with a protective arm just in case during the four or five steps into the vehicle. "Who were you talking to? Paparazzi?"

"No, Denman's assistant." Charlie slid across the backseat. "Is her lab far?"

"Not terribly." It was Harrison who eventually spoke up, his tone easy as he glanced at his son and his grandson in the rearview mirror. 'I'm just glad to get away from Linda; she's awful.

"You're not kidding." Charlie glanced over at Zane, whose expression had resumed its grim glare, this time out the window.


Guilt clamped at Callie's stomach as she stared vacantly at the wall in front of her. She'd been stretched out on her back for the last hour, just staring up at her ceiling. She started as someone rapped on her door sharply.

"Are you coming?" Lewis poked his head into her room, rubbing tired eyes with one hand as his other typed on his phone. "I am leaving in five, meet me in the–"

"I'm not going, dad." Callie did her best to sound nonchalant, grabbing clumsily for a magazine to flip through.

"No?' Lewis's eyes flickered up from his phone.

"Nah." Callie shrugged one shoulder. "Sounds hella boring, you know?"

"Boring?" Lewis shoved his hands in his pocket, his phone momentarily forgotten. "Are you... are you doing alright? With everything?" He tried to adopt an easy tone as he spoke to his daughter.

"What?" Callie frowned. "Of course, Dad. I'm not the one in the spotlight."

"I know that." Lewis took a casual step closer to her bed. "It's just, I guess I'd thought you and Charlie had become pretty good friends... you sure you don't want to come with me?"

"Completely." Callie looked up from the page. "Honestly, Dad. I just don't feel like it."

"Alright." Lewis gave one last hard look at his daughter before turning to leave. He could tell something was bothering her, but if she didn't want to spend time at Denman's lab, he certainly wasn't going to try to convince her. He shivered slightly. He wanted his daughter as far from that woman as she could be.


It felt like only a few seconds passed before Charlie found himself walking into yet another white building. He was flanked by Zane, Lewis, and Will, who had relieved a worn-out Harrison. They acted as shields as Charlie hurried from the car to the door though it turned out the protection was unnecessary, as no reporters seemed to know they were there.

They were directed down a hall and to Denman's lab, which occupied an entire wing of the facility. "Wait here." Their guide instructed. "Linda will be down shortly."

Zane, Will, and Lewis resumed their heated discussion about the situation as Charlie began to check out the space. It wasn't anything special, just a regular lab with a large, clear water tank taking up one whole wall. In spite of all he'd been through today, Charlie couldn't help but be excited at the prospect of getting in that water.

All four sets of eyes shot to the door as a crew of people burst into the room and began scattering around the space.

"I want four of you on either side of the tank." A tall man wearing a head set directed people to their places. "Lighting, be sure to focus on the pool-"

"Excuse me?" Zane blocked his way, placing a hand on the man's chest. "What exactly do you think you're doing in here?"

"Setting up." The man pushed past Zane and resumed his directions, hardly missing a beat.

"Oh good." Denman breezed into the room, flashing everyone a dazzling smile. "Everyone's here." Her eyes flickered over the room, finally landing on Charlie. "Ah, Charlie. Or do you prefer Charles? Chuck?"

"Charlie." He rolled his eyes as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Charlie." Denman set down her clipboard and brief case before walking over to him. Her heels clicked pertly on the hard floor as she strutted. "We're going to start with a basic transformation for our video cameras. Then, we'll have you get out, dry off real quick, and we'll do it a few more times for the photographers, yeah? Then we'll re-light and shoot you drying off at a more flattering angle than the one we're lit for now." She shot a look at the man who was directing the photographers. "Derek, did you meet Charlie?"

"Charmed." The man nodded in Charlie's general direction before resuming his job.

"Don't mind him." Denman laughed. "He's just stressed because we called his boys in with so little notice. He'll warm up."

"Yeah..." Charlie wasn't paying much attention to her as he watched everyone bustling around him. "And you need all this equipment? Just for a few tests?"

"Oh, sweetie." Denman shook her head slightly, shooting Charlie a painfully sweet smile. "I'm not doing any tests today." She gave a self-satisfied sigh as she jotted a couple notes on a sheet of paper. "Today, we're, shall we say... documenting."

"So..." Charlie's nerves kicked back in so hard he felt as if he'd been kicked. He was beginning to understand what she meant.

"So..." Denman continued. "I'm taking video, pictures, you'll be interviewed, we'll be putting together a small stockpile of footage to send out to the press, etcetera." She pushed her glasses back up her nose with the end of her pen. "Want a bit of free advice, Charles? If there's anyone you need to make peace with about this whole situation, do it right now. Because by tomorrow morning people are going to know everything there is to know about you."

Charlie's head swam as Denman clicked away to check on a few things before beginning. "This is it." He muttered to himself. Cameras clicked as men tested the lighting and few of them bothered to conceal their excitement as they gawked at Charlie.

"Charles? We're ready for you." Derek gestured for Charlie to climb the few steps to the top of the clear-walled tank. "I'll count you in."

"Just dive in for this first one." Denman approached him as he climbed. "Stay underwater while you change, yeah?"

Charlie nodded numbly as he lined up his toes with the edge of the drop. "Stay under while I change." He repeated to himself. "I can do that." He realized that he was clenching his fists so tightly that his fingernails were digging painfully into his hands. Cameramen lined up along every foot of the tank, getting ready to record him from every conceivable angle.

"Alright then, Charles." Derek called. "Get ready... and dive in three... two... one."

Charlie closed his eyes as everything stilled. In that split second, an odd silence washed through him as he pushed off. Everything came rushing back to him the second his knees extended, no way he could go back now. The roar of the room was hushed a second later, as the cool water began to feel comfortable again.