NOTES: I'M BACK! Very sorry to have taken sooo long to actually get back and finish writing this story. The good news is that it's finished and I'll be posting it regularly as soon as I finish editing it (which will be a poor editing job because my grammar sucks. Seriously).

Thank you very much for sticking with me (if you're still around!) and for all the wonderful comments. I truly hope I don't disappoint you with the way this story wraps up.

WARNING: I would once again like to remind people that this story depicts violence and implied non-consensual sex. It is not graphic, but it is there. You have been warned.

Also, I have no BETA.

Enjoy!

H2OOOOO

She had spent almost two years of her life working to get into this position. Two years of performing basic lab tests that the co-op students should have handled. Two years of late nights, long hours and missed dates. She'd written and re-written reports until her fingers ached from typing. She gutted fish to feed the few seals and dolphins they had on site, she helped muck out their pens when the cleaners called in sick. She stared into glass tanks and video recordings for hours to get a proper study of fish school flocking patterns.

She specialized in the integumentary system. She had even won some recognition in various scientific communities and journals for her master's thesis. She was accomplished and hardworking. But she had wanted to work for the best, and then eventually become the best. It had taken her two years of hard work and near obsessive dedication, but she finally got her wish. She was now working directly under Dr. Linda Denman herself.

Then, surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly once she had gotten to know Denman a little better) she had had to continue to jump through hoops and perform tasks far below her skill level for the better part of three months before she was apparently deemed competent enough to join Linda's top research team. The team that zoologists and biologists and ecologists and all the other 'ologists alike practically came to blows over joining.

Before Dr. Denman even considered providing her security clearance to her private labs (the labs everyone knew all the really important research took place) she had to undergo an intense series of interviews, followed by piles of paperwork and confidentiality agreements.

The excitement she felt at finally being handed a security pass card and a firm, welcoming handshake by the good doctor herself, had made her light headed and almost shaking with excitement. It had been such a thrill, such and incredible reward after all her sacrifice!

The private lab was located just south of Dawesville, surrounded by bush and accessed only after a drive down a long, privately built road. The parking lot, which consisted of dirt, gravel and the occasional clumps of weeds, had no more then eight spaces. It was ridiculously close to the ocean and she could not resist having a look before reporting inside.

It was breathtaking.

There was even a massive manmade wharf protruding from the shore. It must have gone out thirty meters before cutting around at ninety degrees to parallel the shoreline before cutting again back to shore. Waves crashed on its opposite side, but they barely affected the calm waters within its borders as the jetty was barely large enough to provide entry for what looked like their research boats. The jetty, the only opening into the water pen, was fenced off, and she had been delighted to see that it was because of the dolphins they had swimming happily around within. Their whistles and chirps clear in the air as a handler tossed them fish from a deck that backed into the building.

It was perfect.

Then they had told her that they were currently in possession of, and studying, an honest to god Mermaid! Well, Merman actually. Merperson? However it was classified she couldn't be more thrilled. The regeneration capabilities of the merperson's scales, even the scales themselves, were fascinating! They weren't even a type of scale she had ever encountered before. It was like a cross between placoid and leptoid, but after examining it more closely, she would even go so far as to say that they might have a mix of true cosmoid scales. Which…wow. Because those had only ever been found on the extinct crossopterygians!

It was incredible! She was hooked, pun not intended, and had spent days involving herself in learning all about it, never really thinking to ask to see the creature itself. Then Linda had asked her to bring a tray of food to the isolation/viewing room and, not thinking anything of it, she had.

A man had stood in the corner when she entered, half of his body hidden by the wall he seemed to be attempting to melt into. He was dressed in scrubs and startled as soon as she stepped in the door, jerking around to face her. His eyes were sharp and assessing, and maybe even slightly fearful. His shaggy hair fell over his forehead, partially blocking his eyes from view and, ridiculously, the first thing that popped into her mind was that he needed a haircut. After looking him over carefully and wondering just what, exactly, he was doing here in the first place, his youth became apparent. He couldn't have been older then twenty.

The silence was heavy between them for a long moment, before she remembered that she was there to bring him his meal.

"I brought your dinner," she announced and held it out a little, expecting him to come and take it from her. He made no move towards her, not even half a step. She frowned at the odd behaviour, and decided to just take it over to the only chair in the room, which sat facing a cot.

"Just leave it there," he commanded sharply, his voice smooth despite the edge to it. She considered ignoring him and bringing it in anyway, but his obvious unease changed her mind. She put it on the floor and quickly left. The loud click of the door automatically locking behind her was hard to misinterpret.

What was going on?

"So you finally met him did ya?" A deep voice announced behind her and she spun around with a gasp, clutching her hand to her chest when she saw that it was just Gil.

"You scared me," she huffed and he grinned at her, an amused glint in his eyes, but he carried on with his initial question instead of commenting on her nerves.

"What did you think?"

"Of what? The boy in there?" She frowned to herself, thinking about his standoffish behaviour, the weary look in his eyes, and the finality of the doors lock clicking into place. She looked at the door now, picturing him inside still standing stiffly in the corner. "Who is he? Why is he in there?" At that Gil's eyebrow's raised in surprise.

"That's Lewis," he informed her, and she stared at him blankly, because if she was supposed to know who Lewis was then it appeared someone, somewhere, had forgotten to tell her. Apparently her confusion showed clearly on her face, because Gil filled in the blank for her. "He's the mermaid."

"What?" She asked, feeling ridiculously stupid.

"He's the mermaid, or merman I suppose," she sensed a little mockery in his voice. But then he smiled, so she assumed she imagined it. Still, she wasn't sure she understood what he meant.

"That boy in there is who we've been studying?"

"It is. Just be careful if you're working around it though, it tends to get violent when you least expect it to." He informed her with sincerity. She blinked at him, feeling stunned.

"But…he's just a person." She stood stiffer as he shrugged indifferently.

"We're putting him back in the water tomorrow. Dr. Denman wants to put him through some endurance tests. You should be there for it, and then you'll see exactly what it is we're working with."

"I'm not sure I'm following you Gil. You're telling me he's half fish, but he's standing in that room on two legs…"

"It's incredible isn't it," Linda's voice spoke behind her and she took a step back to find the shorter woman watching her carefully. "He has the capability to physically morph from one form to another on a molecular level from the simple introduction of water on his skin." Linda explained and beckoned for them to follow her down the hall.

"So he's both human and…fish?" She asked, unease beginning to churn in her stomach.

"Yes, he is." Linda pressed her security card to a scanner and gestured for her and Gil to step into the room before letting the door fall closed. She stopped and gaped a moment, completely enthralled by the large room and all of the equipment it held. Not to mention the different tanks, all filled with water and filtration systems, all different sizes. There were two men on the opposite end of the room, kneeling around and in-ground rectangular pool large enough for a person to fully stretch out in and then some, but it wasn't overly wide.

"That's our new exercise pool. Beauty isn't it? Stainless steel, the finest saltwater filtration system available, an 8 horsepower power unit to run the water propulsion system, twenty-three invisible underwater camera's built into the wall and state of the art laser bioscanners." It was pretty impressive she had to admit, and Linda seemed pleased with it as they walked passed.

"What's it for?" She wondered out loud.

"We're going to have Lewis swim in it tomorrow, to give us a real idea of how his body moves while in the water. There's only so much we can study when he's in a normal tank, and at least this way he'll be getting some proper exercise."

"And he's okay with this?" She wanted to know, because he hadn't seemed overly impressed when she'd brought him his meal in his 'room.'

"Sarah," Linda turned to her, conflicting emotions of regret and hope on her face as she met her eyes. "I will not lie and say that he is not completely happy here, but the work we're doing, the things that Lewis and his body are teaching us…it is something that has never been discovered before. He is a new species, and an absolutely incredible one at that. He might not always show it, but he understands why we're doing this, and you need to understand that what we're doing here could very well be for the betterment of mankind. Do you understand?" Linda watched her intensely and yes, she could understand what the woman was saying. If he truly was what they said he was (and she still wasn't completely sure she believed it, despite the work she had been doing in the last week) then this would be a breakthrough never before seen. It would be history in the making. But…

"I understand," Sarah said slowly, "but you're sure it's okay to have him here? If he's a human being, then this…you are telling me that his being here is legal?"

"I'm telling you that we have an opportunity that we can not miss, and that you can either be a part of it, or you can not be a part of it. But it might help ease your conscience knowing that he is not a completely stable being. As far as we can tell he has no family and no discernable history. We found him when he became accidently entangled in our nets and initially brought him in to help heal him from his serious injuries. His staying here now…you can think of it as him paying off his debt." Linda didn't look away from her, and Sarah was slowly becoming unsettled by the look. She could feel Gil standing just off to her side, watching her just as carefully and she realized that this was a test. One that she had to pass no matter what. She took a breath, and then nodded.

"Yes, I understand," she agreed and looked pointedly past Linda to the diagnostic console behind her. "And I'm honoured that you're allowing me to have a place in such a unique study." Linda's smile bloomed and Sarah relaxed under it easily.

"Then I'm glad to officially welcome you aboard."

She spent the rest of the day acquainting herself with the equipment and learning that nothing, no matter what, of what they learned here left the labs under any circumstances. She understood the need for secrecy now, and all the interviews and confidentiality agreements made sense.

She just hoped it would be worth it.

H2OOOO

Linda waited patiently as she watched Gil herd Lewis into the room, Rickman and Paul flanking the boy on either side as he padded, barefoot, across the lab. Lewis seemed tired today, his shoulders were hunched and, she noted with a frown, they were going to have to cut his hair again soon, because she couldn't have it blocking his beautiful eyes.

"I want to see his back first," she called out as they headed to the exercise pool, and Gil obediently changed their direction and marched him over to her. "Shirt off please," she ordered softly. Lewis stiffened even more at that, giving her one of his patented looks of disgust, and she could see him sizing up the pro's and con's of arguing this morning, before sighing and swiftly tugging the thin material up and over his head. He threw it at Gil for affect, and the man's eyes narrowed dangerously. Honestly, she didn't know what the problem was between the two.

"Let me see," she ordered and when Lewis didn't move immediately Gil grabbed him by the arm and yanked him around, pushing the boy so his arms braced on the table before them, baring his pale back for all to see. She gently reached up and ran a finger down the length of one scar, feeling the slight ridge still there from the healing process. In a few weeks the bump would be gone but she doubted the scar line would ever fully disappear.

"A few days out of the water was all he needed to finish healing the last bit. At this point I clear him for full physical activity," Rickman informed her, looking intently at his clipboard as he spoke, and she was relieved to hear it. She hated seeing the marks on his body, but it had hopefully taught him at least a small lesson in when to be careless in this environment. She had just been terrified that they'd almost lost him at the time.

"Very well. Lewis, is there anything you'd like to tell me this morning?" She didn't expect an answer from him, and wasn't disappointed as he kept his head bowed. "Very well," she stepped away and nodded towards the pool, satisfied when Lewis followed her gaze. "Strip and get in."

"What? No towel for privacy?" he sneered even as he began heading to the waters edge and eyeing it suspiciously.

"We've all seen what you've got big boy, nothing to be shy about," Gil goaded and Linda waited silently until Lewis dropped the pants and, with a deep breath, slid into the pool.

His transformation was instantaneous and, as always, it took her breath away. She heard a gasp beside her and turned to see Sarah standing there, staring at Lewis with wide, intrigued eyes. Good Linda thought, and turned back to watch her prize as he ducked under the water and tucked himself into the corner. She turned to the series of monitors before her and clicked on the camera's to watch him more clearly.

Words could not describe the image. Today his fin was almost a solid deep blue, streaked with thin lines of silver throughout and she itched to touch. Four and a half hours later, when Lewis pulled himself exhaustedly out of the water she resisted the urge to touch again. They all did, choosing to stand back and just watch as he lay on the cold ground, propped up on one arm with his eyes closed and panting heavily. He was exhausted. Tired out to the point that he didn't even resist when they finally moved in on him, cautiously picking him up and placing him on the gurney.

She wanted to run more tests, wanted to take more samples, maybe put him in a tank and introduce some animals to him. Looking at him now, strapped down with his chest rising and falling as he tried to calm his breathing, eyes closed to ignore them all, and she felt generous.

"Put him in his normal tank. He's done for the day." They had enough info to analyse for the next few days anyway. She didn't bother watching as Lewis sank to the bottom of the tank and curled up, his head buried in his arms, and slept.