"She's got a lab near Wadesville" his dad told him unceremoniously as soon as Zane answered his phone and Zane frowned, trying to picture the place in his mind before realizing he'd never actually been there.

"Wadesville?" He repeated, and rolled his eyes as soon as he said it. "You got an exact address?" He listened intently as his dad rattled it off, and after a quick thanks hung up and typed it into his blackberry. Then he stared at it. He must have been staring a moment too long when Detective Firth pointedly cleared his throat. Zane startled. He'd forgotten that he'd been in conversation with the man.

"Is that a lead on your missing friend?" Firth wanted to know, not looking overly interested and no doubt asking because it was expected, but Zane knew better then to disregard this guy. Firth was the youngest officer promoted to detective in the history of the precinct, and he had a bit of a reputation for convincing people to underestimate him. Zane didn't know what to think of the guy yet, but he did know that they didn't get off on the wrong foot. That had to count for something.

"No, no. Just…family stuff." Zane shrugged it off, though he felt antsy with adrenaline. If he left within the hour he could be in Wadesville just after midnight. "Important family stuff, actually. I've got to go."

Firth eyed him a moment, before filling up his paper cup with water.

"Everything all right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Fine. Thank you for your time, and for actually listening to what I had to say."

"No problem," Firth swallowed the water in two gulps and crushed the cup, before looking at him with a slight frown. "I understand the concern for a missing friend. His family still aren't concerned that he didn't return home for Christmas, but I'll start looking into it anyway. You never know what might turn up, and family isn't always right."

Zane paused and looked at him, a bit startled. None of the police had offered to help him out yet, despite his visits. He wondered, off hand, if he had been foisted off on Firth so that he'd stop bothering the guys at the front desk. Firth would be considered the rookie, so if anyone was going to be given the distraction detail it would be him…

"Thanks," Zane just said, and then gave Firth a little wave before quickly leaving the precinct. He went home, packed some things, and was well on his way within the hour.

He was halfway through his drive when his cell rang. He grabbed at it without checking the identity.

"Bennet," he barked into it, cursing at a slow driver up ahead.

"Wow, are you sure you don't want to be a cop? Because the authority in the way you just announced yourself definitely screams law enforcement to me." It was Emma, and her tone implied that she was amused. Zane took a breath, trying to release some of the tension that had been steadily building over the last few weeks, and put a smile he didn't feel into his voice.

"I've thought about going back to the academy, but then I fear I'd be further away from you then I could bare." She laughed and he shifted the phone to his other ear. He should invest in an earphone. "What's up Em?"

"Just calling to see if you're free tonight, if you wanted to get together?" She sounded hopeful, but a bit off. He frowned.

"Everything all right?"

"Yeah, of course," she assured him quickly. "It's just been a while since we've hung out." Which was true. He hadn't seen her since before Christmas, and then it had only been a dinner with the three girls and himself.

"You having problems with that guy of yours?"

"Chris? No, none. Things are great with us," and he believed that at least. One of the reasons he hadn't seen her much was because she was spending all her free time with Chris. He was happy for her, but concerned. When he'd brought up his concerns for their safety at the dinner party he'd been met with three annoyed glares and firm declarations that they could take care of themselves thank you very much.

There had been no mention of Lewis that night, though Zane had tried to steer the conversation in that direction several times. He felt the presence of his missing friend even more then, and in all honesty he hadn't been very impressed with their lack of concern over his not coming home for Christmas. Cleo had made a good point in saying that even if Lewis had come home, he wouldn't dare show his face around them. Not after the things he said.

Zane hadn't mentioned that Lewis had never shown up to University in the first place, or that he hadn't been able to find him anywhere. It had been almost four months.

He still wasn't sure if he hadn't told them of his suspicions because he had no 'real' proof; because he had the nagging fear that telling them may get them hurt, and he had promised Lewis he would try to take care of them (whenever he could); or if he'd kept them in the dark because a small part of him didn't think they deserved to know. Perhaps he was a bit pissed that they'd dismissed Lewis so easily, after everything that they'd all been through together, and after Lewis had only ever been after them for their own safety.

Of course, saying any of that out loud was out of the question.

"Actually," Emma hedged, suddenly a bit hesitant. "I wanted to know if you were okay?" He took his sunglasses off and tossed them on the seat, the sun finally settling low enough that he didn't need them.

"Me?" He tried to sound surprised. "I'm fine. Did I do something that gave you a different impression?"

"Not really. It's just…you seemed tense at dinner, distracted, and you've kind of fallen off our radar since you moved into that new place of yours. I just want to make sure everything's all right." He resisted the urge to sigh. Things were far from all right, but he couldn't tell her that.

"I've just been a bit distracted since I left the academy," he admitted. It was the absolute truth, he just let her believe that it was also the reason.

"I know you liked it there, you would make a great officer Zane," she tried to be supportive. He appreciated the attempt, but they'd already hashed this out when he'd first left the academy and he didn't feel like discussing it again. Women and their need to talk! It drove him up the wall at times.

"Nah, I would have been fired within a month on the job. Apparently I have a bit of a problem with authority." Not to say that he'd acted out while at the academy, but he had had the distinct urge to tell his instructors where they could shove it several times and he just knew it wasn't for him. "I'm currently looking in to other prospects," he declared, trying to close the conversation down without sounding rude. She didn't take the hint.

"Oh yeah? What's that then?"

"I was thinking Private Investigator," he declared, and then cringed. It was the first thing that popped into his head and it definitely didn't sound glamorous enough. "Or a plastic surgeon," he added on to save face. After all, the son of a business man as successful as his father had to live up to high standards.

His initial decision to join the academy hadn't been accepted with grace.

"Yeah right. Not with the science grades you made," she teased.

"I'll have you know that I am a hidden fount of scientific potential."

Her response was cut off by the blaring horn of an impatient driver behind him and he glared into his rearview mirror. It's not as though he was the one driving so ridiculously slow, but the road here wasn't exactly the safest to pass people on.

"Are you driving?" Emma asked, curious.

"Yes."

"Where are you going?"

"Visiting some family," he said, perhaps a tad to hastily when there was a significant pause on the other line.

"For how long?"

"Don't know yet," he contemplated passing the car, only to see a large truck bearing down on them.

"Are you sure things are-"

"Things are fine," he cut her off, suddenly tired of this conversation and he could practically feel the sudden tension through the line.

"Are-" she hesitated for a brief moment, uncertain in a way that was not normal for her. "Are you going to visit Lewis?" He snorted, no humour in the sound.

"Would it matter if I was?" he asked, trying to school his voice into sounding casual, unconcerned. He didn't feel like finally having the 'Lewis' conversation now, of all times.

"Not really," she responded, and the anger at their friend was still clearly evident in her voice, though she hesitated again before continuing. "But Cleo mentioned that she hadn't heard a thing from him since that day. Not even an email or text to say he was sorry."

"Did you really expect one?" He couldn't help asking, too tired to completely hide his irritation. She picked up on it. Of course she did: she was far from stupid. Usually.

"Yes, I did. We all did. Lewis was far out of line that day. None of us ever thought he would betray us like that."

"Are you sure he betrayed you?" The car in front of him finally turned off and he gunned it, trying to outrun his anger. His worry.

"Maybe not intentionally, but he sure didn't hold back when he threatened to expose Rikki."

"No, he didn't." Zane agreed, because it was true. But they hadn't seen his fists clenched white and shaking beneath the table. "How unlike him."

There was a long pause then. The longest yet, and he wondered if she was pissed at him for not agreeing with her completely, or finally taking a moment to listen to him as he tried to point out that things weren't right.

"People change," she finally said, and disappointment flooded through him.

"Sure," he agreed flatly. "Listen Emma, I've got to concentrate on driving."

"Right, of course," her tone uncertain again, hearing the dismissal in his voice. "I'll see you when you get back?"

"Probably," he agreed, still without emotion. "Take care." He hung up.

He would see her when he got back, and maybe they'd discuss it more then. But right now, he just wanted to stop feeling worried and confused and frustrated and afraid. He wanted answers damn it! And he wanted things back the way they had been. But he was all too aware that at this point things could never be the same. So what he had to do was hope that Lewis was okay, and that when he found him and brought him home they could fix things then.

There wasn't much more for it.

--H2OOOO—

"Get OFF! Let me GO!" Lewis snarled, struggling viciously as they practically threw him onto the examination table and wrestled his arms into the padded cuffs, effectively pinning them by his side. Gil pressed his forearm against Lewis's chest and lay his weight into it, slamming the struggling man back onto the table so Rickman could slide the chest strap into place. She watched as Lewis stared up at Gil, still struggling, still swearing, still trying to get off of the table any way possible. Even if it meant flipping the table over.

This is why, Dr. Denman had softly explained to her, they had had to bolt the table into the ground.

Sarah jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being smacked by Lewis's large, powerful tail as he swung it around, trying to throw himself off the table. Or knock her coworkers away from him.

"Lewis! Behave!" Gil ordered, leaning more forcefully into Lewis's chest, which only seemed to infuriate the man/fish hybrid even more and he actually tried to head-butt Gil.

"I'm not a dog!"

Gil moved his arm up higher to press into Lewis's throat and the boy finally stopped thrashing. Thank god. But his chest was heaving as he tried to catch his breath from the struggle, and the knuckles on his right hand were bruising from where he'd managed to get in a few hits.

There was a large trail of water leading from the tank to the table, and they were all at least partially soaked, even Sarah, who had done nothing more then stand on the sidelines and watch.

They had dropped Lewis once, when he had gone from compliant to desperate struggling. He probably had new bruising on his back.

It would match the bruising on his wrists, from where he continued to struggle against his restraints.

It took three men to pin his tail so they could strap it down, and when Gil finally pushed off of the boy he did not look amused. His left eye already swelling red. Lewis looked at it and grinned, before dropping his head back to the metal table and looking away from them all.

"I think it's getting stronger," Dr. Rickman announced, rolling his shoulders to relieve the tension of the struggle. Sarah liked him. He was a nice man who knew his work, but she sometimes had trouble with how he always referred to Lewis as an 'it.' Perhaps it made him feel better about the things they did to Lewis.

"I agree," Gil seconded him and leaned over Lewis, grabbing his jaw and turning his head to look at him. Sarah looked away, pretending to be busy with setting up her tests. She had initially thought Gil was a kind, easy going man with a great smile. She could admit to herself that she had been a little infatuated with him her first weeks here. But she watched the way he touched Lewis. Watched the way he tormented him, and tried to scare him. Saw the way he held him down, with his entire body instead of just his hands and she felt sick. She didn't know what to do.

She distracted herself by quickly taking a few scale samples from Lewis's fin, touching him with only the swabs and tweezers. She had never felt his fin, though her fingers itched to touch, or tried to squeeze his shoulder in support. She knew he wouldn't accept it, and she knew that the last thing he wanted was one more person touching him. Taking from him.

She left the room as Denman stepped up beside her pet, laying a proprietary hand on Lewis's chest, spreading her fingers out as she chastised him for trying to break free.

Sarah didn't blame him. She kind of wanted to break free herself, but she was afraid. She was afraid of what would happen if she went to someone about this. She had signed forms, made professional promises, and even participated in some of the experiments.

If she went to the authorities she feared Lewis would just change hands. If she let Lewis go she feared what Denman and Gil would do to her.

She didn't want to loose everything she had worked for. She didn't want to feel like her life may be threatened. She hadn't gotten that feeling yet, but the way these people were with Lewis, the way they obsessed about him, about how they felt he belonged to them, she wouldn't put them past threatening her life if she did something to ruin this for them.

So she stayed quiet, did her job and pretended she didn't mind. Pretended that it didn't hurt to hear Lewis screaming to be let go, struggling to break free, to keep them away from him. The worst though, was when he just watched her quietly with those sharp blue eyes, and she saw understanding there. Saw that he had figured her out, and understood even if he didn't show her forgiveness.

When she went home at night, she cried herself to sleep.