Chapter 7

"If you swim effortlessly in the deep oceans, ride the waves to and from the shore, if you can breathe under water and dine on the deep treasures of the seas; mark my words, those who dwell on the rocks carrying nets will try to reel you into their catch. The last thing they want is for you to thrive in your habitat because they stand in their atmosphere where they beg and gasp for some air."

- C Joybell C

Small beads of sweat are accumulating on the corner of Phil's eyebrows, despite the rapidly setting sun and the oncoming night cooling the air. He silently grips his folder, a million fears running through his mind. How long before someone realises that they've been tricked? Surely the driver was suspicious of his heavy load, or at least wary of Phil's nervous behaviour. He eyes off the bulky man, doing his best not to move his head too much, but the driver is drumming along to AC/DC on the radio, looking out the window and appearing to be as unconcerned as Phil could hope.

Every second is an agony, but Phil waits as patiently as he can, carefully watching the clock until they are 30 minutes out from the research centre. Then he speaks up.

"Er- Sorry, I know this is very inconvenient, but do you think you could maybe pull over for a moment?" His words are timid but perhaps that's for the best because the driver gives a hearty chuckle, slapping him on the back.

"S'all good mate, call of nature comes to us all." He pulls the truck over to the side of the road, cranking the brake and folding his arms behind his head. "There you go." His eyes are closed a moment later, apparently basking in the last few rays of sunlight, and this is when Phil attacks.

Pulling a taser from where he concealed it in his notes, Phil takes a deep breath, praying for the man's eyes to stay closed, and reaches forward, pressing the weapon to his skin as he activates the electrical current. It's far less elegant than he'd imagined it to be, and the driver writhes for a moment or so, knocking his hat off in the process, and then lies falls still and flaccid, slumped in the seat. Waiting a moment or so, Phil pokes him with the taser, but he doesn't wake up.

Phil can finally release the heavy breath he's been holding for the entire car ride. He didn't want to have to attack an innocent employee, but it seemed to be far more logical than attempting to trick him, or get him onside. It's a cold theory and Phil sits uneasy in his passenger seat, so he opens the door and jumps out of the truck, pulling the driver ungracefully from his side and dragging him to sit by the edgeside of the road. The effort of moving a whole human is almost too much, but he manages somehow. It's too important for his muscles to let him down now. After a moment's thought, he grabs a bottle of water and the man's phone from the car and places them beside his slumbering form. There's no point deserting him here with no way of getting help, just for obeying his boss.

Climbing up onto the back of the truck, Phil lifts up the corner of the black coverings, checking quickly that there are no other vehicles approaching on the road, and lifts it up to reveal Dan's elegant face peering up at him.

"Where on earth did you get the notion that I would be ultrasensitive to the light? How do you think I got this gorgeous bronzed skin?" He smiles at Phil and all the tension and weight dissolves from his shoulders.

"Well I had to come up with some reason for keeping your gorgeous self hidden, so sue me if it was inaccurate. It fooled a bunch of elite scientists, so let's go with it was a genius plan." It's extraordinary how much lighter everything feels now that he can see Dan again and he knows that he's okay. He wants to reach down and open up the container, but they're still very far from safety, and for all they know, Professor Desarbres and her guards may be onto them already.

"It's okay. Keep the cover down for safety. The darkness doesn't bother me." Dan's eyes narrow with amusement, moving slightly in the water so that his hair languidly floats a moment behind, "I'll just have a nice little rest while you try to remember to drive on the right side of the road."

Phil is not about to be amazed by this piece of insight, he's been concerned about it for the entire drive out, but instead he just mutters, "Oh, hush, you. See you soon," sliding the covers back down over Dan and re-securing them to the truck below.

Clambering into the driver's seat, which is uncomfortably warm, Phil quickly orients himself to the dashboard's set-up and starts the engine, pulling out onto the highway once more. He can hear snarky whispers from Dan looming in the back of his mind as he swerves around misaimed corners and bumps over potholes, the enormity of his load impeding his driving. Soon enough they are smoothly heading to the coastline, and Dan becomes rather quiet, leaving Phil to the company of his own thoughts.

They manage to arrive at the rock pools safely, Phil biting his lips as he guides the wheels over the sand, trying to stick to the stronger, wetter parts, until they are right at the edge of the rocks. He clumsily negotiates a three point turn, bringing the back of the truck as close to the rocks as he dares, slamming on the breaks and jumping out to the car to pull the cover off the tank at the back. Luckily for them, the beach is near-deserted as the rapidly darkening night brings cool sea winds up to the shore. A handful of surfers brave the breaks on the other end of the cove, comfortably far away.

Pulling off the heavy cover completely, so that Dan's entire form is visible, tail and all, Phil starts trying to lift the heavy glass lid, but struggles, his fingertips sliding from the narrow edges they latch on to. Grimacing with the effort, Phil's burden is suddenly weightless as Dan rolls onto his back and pushes upward, lifting the glass easily. Not caring for where it falls, they let it slide away. Dan props his elbows over the tank's wall, flicking his hair out of his eyes and looking around, taking in a deep breath.

"That's more like it." Phil's not sure if he had expected Dan to speak aloud, now that the barrier of water was gone, but the words fall from his lips flawlessly. "What next?"

Face to face, Dan is so utterly ethereal and immaculate that Phil is momentarily stumped.

"I, erm, this is as far as I can drive." He gazes around; the sea is still at least one hundred kilometres off. The immediate concern had been getting Dan out of the lab and to the sea, he hadn't really thought through the logistics of this part.

"I'm not too good moving around on the shore unfortunately," Dan contemplates the jagged terrain before them, his keen eyes darting to find the ideal path across the rocks. "I could try it alone but," He captures Phil's eyes and draws him in, "It would be far more successful with your help."

Phil stares at him a moment too long.

"Right, of course! What can I do?"

They negotiate an exit from the small tank, Dan looping his strong arms around Phil's neck. Phil tries his best to focus on standing strong and supporting Dan as he lifts his tail out of the box, abdominal muscles straining intensely to slowly clamber off the truck, till he is leaning up against Phil. He tries, and fails miserably, not to relish the warmth of Dan's skin against his, wet and coarse skinned he might be, but the warmth emanating from his form is overpowering. Dan doesn't say anything, if he can hear Phil's embarrassing observations, but offers Phil a small smile.

"And now?"

"Now, we go very slowly, and you tell me if I can do anything to make it less painful for you." Phil replies. His thighs are already aching from the added burden, but he's not about to give up now.

Dan leans forward until his cheek is almost against Phil's, finding a resting place in the crook of his neck and shoulder. "It will be easier this way, trust me?" Phil opens his mouth to agree, but instead his entire mind just focuses on how very much he trusts Dan, with everything, and there is a warn assent from Dan.

There's a sudden numbness that spreads across his limbs and his chest and then Phil is plucked from his body- not entirely, but as is he was watching a video game, where his legs begin moving under someone else's command, slowly beginning the trek across the rock pools.

"Huh. I didn't know that would work." Dan's words are stressed, and Phil can see his neck muscles straining in the corner of his vision. There are no more words from him as one step after another passes through Phil's muscles, the heaviness somehow less painful out of his control. Amazed and completely out of his depth, Phil watches silently, wishing he knew some way to help Dan.

There's another one of those warm chuckles. "You don't need to help more- already, doing so much." He sounds out of breath, if that is at all possible with words that don't even rely on lungs, "I need you."

And so they make their way, one tortuous step after another, Dan totally absorbed in the task at hand. Phil tries to relax or tense his muscles, marvelling in the utter loss of power but retained sensation, and it's almost too soon that they are close to the edge of the pools, when suddenly Dan's voice sounds out.

"Phil- I can't, you have to-" Phil braces his body, and suddenly the weight and pain comes hurtling back, Dan collapsing entirely against him. One foot falling backwards with the shock of it, Phil clenches his teeth, pushing back up with his arms and wrapping them around Dan's shoulders.

"We're almost there, I've got you, it's gonna be okay." He whispers, trying to sound reassuring. Stumbling over a few rocks and stray coral, he winces as he watches Dan's tail catch, a small trickle of blood emerging between the scales. It's surprisingly red, trailing down between purples and blues.

"Sorry, sorry…" Dan doesn't seem to have the energy to even notice, so Phil carries on. They reach the edge of the rocks and he lowers Dan to sea level, taking care to place him gently down.

He doesn't have time to worry, because a moment later Dan's head rises up, breathing in the salt and the chilly spills of the waves as they crash beside them. It's almost as if Phil can see the energy pouring back into him, his hands taking a firm hold on the rocks one moment, and he's pushing off into the waves the next, scales slipping between the deep blues.

Phil lets out a long sigh; they made it. Dan's head resurfaces from the waves, wet and fresh and grinning wildly.

"That's more like it." He's almost singing in Phil's mind, and the sadness that Phil was sure he'd managed to shove far away threatens to well up again, so he speaks up before it can rear its ugly face.

"We're almost directly west of where they picked you up, so if you just follow in the direction of where the sun was setting, out past the last few reefs, you should be able to make your way from there?" Dan nods and Phil racks his mind for something else to say, aside from goodbye.

With a flick of his tail, Dan comes up to the rocks fully, his arms resting on the edge. Reaching behind his neck, he pulls off the necklace, gathering it up and holding the shell thoughtfully in his hands.

"It's yours now," he says, so quietly that Phil almost misses it. "I wouldn't want you to ever forget me; I know I won't forget you, Phil." He holds out the necklace and Phil bends down so it can slide over his head. The shell is heavier than he expected, and he looks back up at Dan. Screw hiding his feeling, it's all he can do not to burst into tears at the sight of his beautiful merman, picturesque against the waves and hair billowing in the wind.

"I can't take it." He says, clammy fingers reaching for the string, but Dan's warm hand reaches up and stops him.

"You must." It's not a question or a request.

"Will I ever see you again?" The childish wish escapes his lips of it's own volition, Dan has his own people, own life and future. But Dan smiles at him, and replies-

"Maybe." Phil's not the only one with emotions clogging up his throat and his mouth. "Don't forget me."

It's too soon and too cruel, but he dives backwards, disappearing once more beneath the waves, gone in one swift flurry. Phil's mouth is already half-open, and he closes it with a snap, the words shoved back down his throat. It's over.

He's numb to the core, folding down onto his knees, ignoring the cold and the increasingly threatening waves around him. Dan's gone. He'd only known him for a few days, but the hopelessness of remaining here alone is paralysing. He doesn't know what to do next or where to go, how to deal with the mess he's left behind, how to deal with the mess that remains of his own thoughts. So Phil just sits, watching the horizon and the last sprays of orange melting into black.

"I love him." Phil realises, the logic of it all relieving as much as it is miserable. As obvious as dashed careers and knocking out security and a world turned upside down by a single smile; it's only now that the feelings can be given a name, a cause, and an end.

And now it's too late.

No sooner has he thought those words than there's a mighty splash in front of him, water spraying up, making Phil close his eyes against the assault. In the moment of his temporary blindness, two warm hands trap his face, anchoring him as his eyes flutter back into focus, Dan's face directly before him. He blinks once, his eyes as beautiful and dark, and then he's leaning forward, soft lips pressing down onto Phil's. The kiss is wet and cold, but Dan is slow and gentle, his movements sending sparks tingling all the way down Phil's spine. His head spins as he kisses back, his hands finding Dan's neck and hair, grabbing hold and pulling him closer. The salt mixes with the warm, sweet taste of Dan's lips, and when they eventually part, Phil can't help but dart forward again to steal another kiss, and then one more again.

Dan's eyes are almost hidden beneath his cheeks, a brilliant smile matched by Phil as they stay there a moment, faces inches apart, hands clutching selfishly and hearts racing. Finally, Phil lets go.

Dan lets his hands slip away, but he doesn't fade into the rippling sea immediately. With a wink, he pushes off the rocks, kicking down powerfully and slipping beneath the blue for a moment, before resurfacing in a magnificent cascade, flipping through the air triumphantly, back arched and arms outstretched, his beautiful form transfixed for a short eternity in the night's air. When he slips beneath the waves this time, Phil is smiling too.

One hand closes around the shell, rubbing his thumb along the textured surface. Maybe it's time to head back to England, he wonders, feet swinging against the rocky edge. Perhaps a new direction for his research is in order. Phil's heart is still pounding and his lips taste like salt, but everything is going to be okay.

That's it folks! I hope you enjoyed this story, I certainly had fun writing it and am super glad that it got finished in time! Again, thank you so much to Courtney and Alana (please go to the tumblr version to see her art!) and let me know if you enjoyed :D

Thanks for reading

xx panfs