Chapter Eight

"So, her sister just…willingly allowed Lizzie to turn her?" asked Dean at the diner for breakfast.

"Well, Lizzie is the youngest," said Sam. "What would you do to protect me if I got turned?"

"Find a cure," said Dean. "Just like I'm already doing."

"Yeah, and I'm totally with you on that," said Sam. "But what if I wasn't? What if I wanted to stay that way?"

"Why would you?" asked Dean.

"An escape," said Sam. "I mean, it sounds like something happened to her, something that traumatized her. She took comfort in the ocean around her. So, her sister went with her to be with her."

"How'd she get turned?" asked Dean.

"She wouldn't tell me," said Sam. "But I could tell it was a bad memory."

"Well, I think you need to find out," said Dean. "We need to convince this mer colony that you're trustworthy so they'll cure you."

"We don't even know for sure if they can do it," said Sam.

"Well, the only way we'll find out is for you to get in there," said Dean. "So, start charming that girl up."

Sam stared incredulously at Dean. "Dean, I'm not gonna lead her on like that. It sounds like she's had enough heartbreak in her life."

Dean rolled his eyes. "You and your bleeding heart, Sam." He dug into his eggs and bacon. "Fine, we'll do it your way. After a nap, of course. You left me hanging for, like, eight hours straight."

"Alright," said Sam, finishing up his meal. "You done?"

"What's with the hurry?" asked Dean.

"That swim wiped me out," said Sam. "I'm tired."

"Alright, hang on," said Dean. He shoveled the last of his food into his mouth. "Let's go, Aquaman." He stood up from the table.

Sam groaned and rolled his eyes, standing also. "Would you stop with the names?"

Dean grinned at him. "Shamoo."

Sam rolled his eyes again and walked past him.

Dean threw some money down on the table, following him. "Free Willy."

Sam barged out the door of the diner.

"Ooh, ooh!" said Dean, rushing out the door so Sam could hear him. "Jaws!"

Sam turned to him as he stopped at the passenger door of the Impala. "Might I point out that Jaws wasn't actually the name of the shark."

"You still knew what I was talking about, though, didn't ya?" Dean pointed out with a smug smile.

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Sam glanced over and saw that Dean was sound asleep. Sam climbed out of his bed and snuck over to the bathroom. He didn't turn on the light because he didn't want to wake Dean up. Dean had closed the window shades to block out the sun. Sam didn't need the light anyway. His enhanced merman sight let him see the pitch black room as though a very small candle were lit in the corner.

Sam ran the water as quietly as possible—it took a while to fill up going that slow—and plugged the drain, turning the water off when it was full. Stripping off his shirt, he sat on the edge of the tub in his boxers. After all, his boxers weren't destroyed last night with Lizzie—they'd somehow transformed with him. It was probably because they were skin tight.

Sam leaned over so he was bracing himself with one hand on each side of the tub. He lowered his waist into the water to prevent his legs from slipping out from under him. His waist sprouted scales up until where his legs emerged from the water about mid-thigh.

Sam looked down at his legs/tail in astonishment. He'd never actually paid attention to how it happened. He swung his legs over the water, slowly lowering them into it. He watched as his skin slowly melted together. It was actually a pretty disturbing sight. He could even feel his bones dissolve into the long spine of his tail, and his muscles knit together to form the longer, more powerful muscle of the mer-tail. He was really quite glad when the scales covered up his fused legs.

Sam lowered the rest of his legs slowly into the water. He watched as his knees disappeared altogether. His shins smoothed out and became less angular. His ankles spread out, forming the start of the tail fin. His feet flattened and broadened like a pancake until they became the thinner membrane'd tail.

Sam glanced at his arms, slowly lowering them hand-first into the water. The scales materialized on his hands. The dark blue fin began to grow from where his carpal bones were at his wrist. It wasn't really a bone, per se; he had to be able to bend his wrist. It was cartilage, like an ear. It stopped at his elbow, looking like the dorsal fin of a dolphin.

Sam leaned back against the tub, relaxing in the water. Sam guessed it was probably the fact that he had gotten turned, but he just felt so much more comfortable in this form. Deep down, it was beginning to feel normal…natural.

Sam closed his eyes, tapping into his own mind. "Lizzie?"

"Hi, Sam," came the immediate reply.

Sam smiled. This mind-melding thing was becoming easier and easier.

"Hi," said Sam. "How are you?"

"Good," said Lizzie. "You?"

"Aside from Dean's constant jokes, yeah," said Sam.

"So, how do you, a hunter…get turned into a merman?" asked Lizzie.

Sam chuckled inwardly. "You'd be surprised how often Dean and I get caught up in whatever we're hunting."

Lizzie giggled again. Sam kind of liked hearing that laugh.

"When Dean and I were killing, um…" Sam began.

"Amanda," Lizzie supplied.

"Right," said Sam. "Dean killed her as she was trying to kill me. Her tears fell into some cuts on my neck. We didn't find out that anything had happened until I changed that night."

"How do you like it so far?" asked Lizzie.

"You know, I'm kind of okay with it," said Sam. "It's oddly freeing."

"I know what you mean," said Lizzie wistfully. "Just go anywhere you want, do anything you want…It's complete freedom."

Sam hesitated for a moment. "What did you do? Before you became a mermaid?"

"Like, spare time or a job?"

"Spare time."

"Well…" said Lizzie, reminiscing, "I loved to read."

"What's your favorite book?"

"It was a tie between 'The Lovely Bones' and the Sherlock Holmes books."

"I liked 'Sherlock Holmes,' too. What else did you like to do?"

"I absolutely loved to play the violin."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was headed to being in a symphony before—" Lizzie stopped herself.

Sam hesitated, unsure if he should ask her. "What happened? How'd you get turned?"

Lizzie was quiet for a while. "Let's just say I wasn't a very good judge of character."

Sam accepted that answer for the time being. Lizzie was slowly beginning to open up to him.

"Well, maybe you've improved since then," said Sam with a warm tone.

"Maybe I have," said Lizzie.

There came several bangs on the door. Sam jumped and opened his eyes.

"Sam, get out!" Dean shouted. "I gotta take a leak!"

"I gotta go, Lizzie," said Sam. "I'll talk to you later."

"See you later, Sam," said Lizzie.

"Hang on!" Sam shouted back to Dean.

Sam pulled himself out of the tub, somehow figuring out how to use the tail to help push him out. He fell onto the floor as quietly as he could. Sam forced the water off his body and out of his tail, slipping his shirt back on. Not wanting Dean to see what he'd been doing, Sam pulled the water from the tub with his mind, pushing it as far down on the floor as he could get. Stepping in front of it, Sam unlocked the door and opened it.

"Finally," Dean muttered, stepping past Sam into the bathroom.

In the darkness, Dean didn't see when Sam made the water swirl out into the main room.

"All yours," said Sam, closing the door.

He looked over at the big ball of water near the floor. He walked to the door and opened it, making the water fly out onto the pavement. He closed the door and decided to take a quick nap.

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Sam was shaken awake, and he looked up to see Dean standing by his bed.

"I thought you got some sleep when I did," Dean pointed out.

"I was just resting my eyes," said Sam, sitting up.

"Yeah, well, you were resting your eyes for two hours," said Dean.

"That's not so long," Sam defended himself.

Dean sat on the other bed, giving Sam a hard look.

Sam swung his legs over the bed so he was facing at Dean. "What?"

"The plug was in the shower drain," Dean told him. "Now, I don't take baths, so unless you were putting together an aquarium…"

"Dean…" muttered Sam.

"You were talking to her this morning, weren't you?" asked Dean.

"Dean, we're supposed to be getting close to the colony," Sam mentioned.

"I know that," said Dean. "I'm just wondering why you had to hide it. So, what'd she say? You in yet?"

"Dean, it's gonna take longer than two conversations to get to the colony," said Sam.

"Alright, but what did she say?" asked Dean.

"Well, she asked how I got turned, and then we talked about her hobbies," Sam told him.

Dean's eyebrows rose. "That's it?"

"Well, that's when you so rudely interrupted," Sam told him, getting out of bed.

"Fine, fine," said Dean. "Be that way." He stood up, heading for the door. "Let's get some lunch."

Sam shook his head as Dean headed out to the Impala. Throwing on some jeans, he followed Dean out the door to the thankfully rain-free day.

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Sam lay on his bed after lunch, taking the extra free time to relax for a change.

"Hey, I'm gonna head to the Phillips 66 up the road," said Dean, grabbing his leather jacket. "Impala's getting low."

"Alright," said Sam.

Dean grabbed his keys and headed out the door. Sam glanced over at the door as he heard the Impala's engine turn on. Sam stood and walked to the window, watching as Dean pulled the Impala out of the parking spot and headed to the parking lot exit. Sam waited until the Impala was out on the road, headed for the gas station. Sam pulled out his cell phone. He figured enough time for Dean to get there, fill up, grab some snacks and a six-pack, chat up the counter girl and drive back.

"Twenty-five minutes ought to do it," Sam muttered to himself, setting the timer for twenty as he headed for the bathroom.

Sam filled the tub, taking off everything but his boxers and climbing in waist-first. When he was completely in mer form, Sam closed his eyes to block everything out.

"Lizzie, you there?" Sam asked.

"Always," Lizzie answered. "'Cause, you know, I have nothing better to do than wait around and talk to you."

She and Sam laughed, Sam savoring her adorable giggle.

"If you were talking to my brother, he'd probably make some narcissistic little comment right about now," said Sam.

Lizzie giggled again. "Yeah, well, he's not the one I'm talking to, is he?"

Sam smiled. "No, he's not. So, tell me about your sister."

"Her name is Lori," she told him.

Sam chuckled. "Lori and Lizzie?"

"Well, it's actually Lori and Elizabeth, but…" Lizzie giggled. "Lori is…she's Lori. You know, what can I say? She's taken care of me my entire life. I don't know what I would do without her."

"I know what you mean," said Sam. "It's the same way with Dean. He's very overprotective, too."

"Lori wouldn't even listen when I said she didn't have to turn herself," said Lizzie. "She insisted."

Sam laughed. "Okay, now that definitely sounds familiar."

"What about you?" asked Lizzie. "What's your story?"

"Well, my brother and I have been hunting since I was a baby," Sam told her. "Our mother was killed by a demon, so our father raised us as hunters."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Lizzie sighed.

"It's okay," said Sam. "I mean, yeah, I miss her, but I was just too young to remember her. We never got to know each other."

"That's too bad. I'm sure she would be proud of the man you've become."

Sam smiled. "Thank you." He was silent for a while. "What about your parents?"

Lizzie hesitated, but then seemed to decide to trust Sam. "They left when I was three. Lori and I have been bouncing around between different foster homes ever since. We finally ran away when I was fifteen."

"How old is Lizzie?"

"She's a year older than me. She took care of me for two years before I got turned and then…" She froze, silent for a while.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me."

Lizzie was silent for another minute. "Then Cody happened."

A guy, Sam thought. I thought that's what it must've been.

"He, uh, promised to be with me, and then he left," Lizzie told him shortly.

Sam could tell there was more to the story, but he didn't press it any further.

"So…you like the ocean lifestyle?" asked Sam.

Lizzie audibly brightened at the subject change. "Oh, yes, it's so out of this world. I can't imagine anything better."

Something started beeping, and Sam opened his eyes to see his cell phone timer going off.

"I'll have to catch up with you later," Sam told Lizzie as he pulled the plug up on the drain.

"Okay," said Lizzie. "Talk to you later."

"Yeah," said Sam, pulling himself out of the draining water.

Sam mentally dried himself off, grabbing his phone and turning off the timer. He grabbed his jeans, pulling them on. Grabbing his shirt, he opened the bathroom door to see Dean sitting comfortably on the bed opposite the door.

Sam froze in the doorway. "Dean…"

"Guy was working the counter today," said Dean, taking in Sam's wet hair. "You were talking to her again, weren't you?"

"Um…" Sam looked down at the floor, his face reddening.

"Sam, you don't have to hide this from me," said Dean, standing and slapping Sam on the shoulder. "It's part of the plan, remember? What I don't understand is why you need to talk to her so much."

"Trust building," Sam simply stated.

Dean looked at him a little funny. "Yeah, alright." He walked over to the six-pack and tossed Sam a beer.

Sam looked at it warily. "I better not. You never know what's in this stuff." He set his down on the dresser.

"True," shrugged Dean, drinking from his own. "Anyway, Bobby called. He's coming straight here to help out."

"Help out?" asked Sam. "With what?"

"The cure," Dean told him. "Just in case."

Sam shrugged. "Alright."

"What she say this time?" asked Dean.

"Nothing important," said Sam. "Just getting to know each other."

"Well, you better get a move on. We need to get back to soul saving, here."

Sam smiled, shaking his head.