A/N: I became a sperm whale expert overnight. XD

Any volunteers for giving Finn hugs? I need to recruit my sister to make a mini-Finn like the mini-Matt she made for Fifth General. XD

Response to Random Fan: It would have been! XD Yeah, poor kid. It started out as "oh, let's have fun and see how long this can go" but I realized that Fontaine kind of needed a real reason. XD No problemo. I'm thinking it will have something to do with his skills, maybe a Mech Knight? I dunno, either. XD I'm going to give all the cookies to Finn, because he needs them for the next bit. 0_0


Fontaine was still reeling over Finn's knowledge of Lemurian an hour later as she wandered the halls. Will would love help translating, Fontaine knew. Of course, she also knew how opposed Finn was to showing himself to the rest of her family.

Why? Everyone knew Nektons were kind and friendly to a fault. Quite literally, as their willingness to trust and help everyone had ended with Finn asking to be allowed to join them.

In fact, when Fontaine first decided to keep Finn hidden, she had decided to blame her genes if something went wrong. She had since realized that Finn was a good guy for real, but it might not hurt if Fontaine borrowed one of Ant's cheesy speeches about helping people in need if her parents weren't quite thrilled by their newest crew member.

Fontaine was startled out of her thoughts when she almost ran into Kaiko.

"Fontaine, there you are," Kaiko said. "Can you help me with the drone?"

"Sure," Fontaine said readily.

"Thanks," Kaiko said, then continued walking toward the Moon Pool room. "We'll be crossing paths with a pod of sperm whales soon, and we will be putting a tracker on one of them."

"Tracking migrations?" Fontaine guessed.

"Mostly, yes," Kaiko said with a smile. "But also because Ant has a new plan for finding a giant squid."

"Again? Ant is obsessed."

"I seem to recall that you've had your fair share of obsessions," Kaiko said easily. "Remember the unicorn-"

"I was ten, Mum!" Fontaine interrupted, embarrassed.

"Whether or not we find evidence of Ant's giant squid, I still want to track the pod's migration." Kaiko opened the door to the Moon Pool room. "And if Ant finds a giant squid, it's even better. Just try to be encouraging, Fontaine, please."

"I'll try," Fontaine said with a sigh.

Fontaine and Kaiko worked in silence for a bit. Fontaine handed the tools under the Rover to Kaiko to attach the drone's pod on the Rover's underside. The drone would be controlled from inside the Rover by a passenger, who would likely be Ant.

While she watched, Fontaine's mind drifted back to her conversation with Finn earlier. She'd planned to approach the topic of Hammerhead's family with Will, who, frankly, would be less likely to connect any dots than Kaiko. However, Fontaine thought she knew a fairly innocent way to ask her mom about Finn.

"Whale pods are like one big family, right?" Fontaine asked.

"Somewhat," Kaiko said. "Females stick with their social unit, but mature males do leave after a time. But those who stick around are fiercely protective of their group. We'll have to keep our distance. Sperm whales have few predators, but there's no telling how they might respond to something as big as the Aronnax."

"They wouldn't attack us, would they?" Fontaine asked.

"We'll keep our distance and the water is too cold for any calves to be born soon, so it's unlikely," Kaiko assured her.

Fontaine nodded, though she wasn't really worried about the whales attacking. Kaiko knew whales as well as anyone could; she wouldn't put them in any danger. Fontaine was more distracted in trying to figure out a better way to bring up Finn.

Luckily -or, perhaps, unluckily- Kaiko could read Fontaine even better than whale behavior. As soon as she saw her mom lower her wrench from a still-loose bolt, Fontaine knew she was sunk.

"What's on your mind, Fontaine?" Kaiko asked.

"Families."

Kaiko cocked her head. "Any in particular?"

"Um… of the killer whale variety?"

"Something tells me you aren't worrying about orcas attacking our whale pod," Kaiko said with a knowing smile.

Fontaine stared. "How do you do that?"

"It's a mother's gift." Kaiko slid out from under the Rover and sat up, resting her arms across her knees. "Now, what has you thinking about the Dark Orca?"

Fontaine wondered what Finn would say if she dragged Kaiko to his hideout that instant. He'd probably freak. Kaiko would probably freak; she wasn't a big fan of Finn after his attempted betrayal a few weeks ago.

"Finn," Fontaine said regardless. "I just can't forget what Finn said. And how sincere he looked."

"Fontaine, Finn was just doing what his dad has taught him," Kaiko said. "He wanted to trick you."

Fontaine shook her head. "Did you see his eyes?"

"I was too busy watching Hammerhead," Kaiko admitted. "What about them?"

"He meant it. We talked while we were 'captives.'" Fontaine couldn't help putting air quotes around "captives," making Kaiko smile. "It sounds like he was forced into being a pirate."

"You think he really wanted out?" Kaiko asked.

Fontaine silently cheered at Kaiko's thoughtful expression. "I think so. Has Finn always been pirating with Hammerhead?"

Kaiko stared into space for a minute. "I remember first seeing Madeline when she was four or five. I didn't realize Hammerhead and Violet had had children until then."

Fontaine realized something. "I don't think I've ever met Finn's mum."

"She used to go with him on his raids all the time, until she vanished sixteen years ago. I bet she stayed someplace safer than the Dark Orca once Finn was born."

Kaiko talked slowly, sounding as though she was sorting her thoughts for the first time. "I didn't see either kid until six years ago. About the same time, Hammerhead had grown more erratic with his pillaging."

"When Violet was with him, Hammerhead wasn't this… wild. He was a planner, or perhaps it was Violet. Either way, he became more aggressive when she first stopped going with him. Six years ago, he was very violent for several months before falling back into his old habits."

"'Violent'?" Fontaine repeated shakily.

"Nobody died, but there were some very close calls." Kaiko shook her head. "Your father and Hammerhead may banter, but we can't forget that Hammerhead can be very dangerous when he wants to be."

"Do you think Finn and Madeline were ever in danger?"

Fontaine had heard of abusive families. She thought back to Finn's jumpy behavior whenever she brought up her parents. She felt sick.

"From the start, we knew Madeline wouldn't bear to be separated from her father," Kaiko said. "He doted on her anytime the opportunity arose. He called her his 'little mermaid' when he thought we couldn't hear. Madeline adored her father, and has mimicked him from the beginning."

Fontaine breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe Hammerhead just liked to put on an impressive show for Madeline. Although…

"What about Finn?"

Kaiko was quiet for a long moment. She seemed to be pulling up memories. Unpleasant memories, based on her grimace.

"It was a few years before we realized Finn was Hammerhead's son. Will and I assumed he was the kid of a crewmate or even an orphan Hammerhead had picked up somewhere."

"What do you mean?"

"Hammerhead didn't call Finn 'son' or 'boy' for years. For a time, we didn't even know that Finn was his name. I'm actually not sure if 'Finn' even is his name."

Now it was Fontaine's turn to raise an eyebrow. "I don't get it. And what did Hammerhead even call Finn before?"

Kaiko scowled. "For Hammerhead's sake, I hope that Finn's birth certificate includes 'Rat' in his birth name."

Fontaine had to sit down. "Hammerhead called his own son 'Rat'? Tell me you're joking."

"I wish I was." Kaiko shook her head. "It was either his birth name, or a reference to his constant scurrying around the ducts."

"I don't know which one is worse," Fontaine said.

Kaiko sighed. "We should have done something, but never had an opportunity. And by the time we realized who this 'Rat' really was, Finn had apparently adapted to his pirating lifestyle."

"And you really think the Dark Orca is the right place for Finn?" Fontaine asked. "Hammerhead is a terrible father."

"General pirating aside, we don't know anything about Hammerhead," Kaiko said.

Fontaine looked away. She couldn't say anything in Finn's defense without giving away the Aronnax's stowaway.

"But you're right," Kaiko said, drawing Fontaine's gaze back. "If it makes you feel better, I'll see what I can do about getting Finn alone the next time we encounter Hammerhead. I'll ask him what he really wants."

"To stay with us." Fontaine thought, saying aloud. "That would really help."

Kaiko smiled and smoothed Fontaine's hair, then slid under the Rover again.

Fontaine's mind raced. Kaiko was Finn's biggest skeptic, but Fontaine had managed to sway her mom with one conversation. What were the chances of Finn allowing Kaiko to talk to him?

Fontaine figured it wouldn't hurt to ask Finn. Once her family was done with the whale pod, she'd tell Finn her plan.


A/N: Since Song of the Sea was cancelled, I decided to incorporate some of my favorite elements into this story, like Finn knowing old languages and Finn's secondary name. (Though, in SotS, "Rat" was AU Ant's name.)

Also, I have a list of upcoming chapters on my profile for now.