A/N: Hey guys! Rough chapter ahead as one of our beloved H2O couple "parts ways." Cora tells Rikki about her vision of Zane, and Rikki overhears something that disturbs her greatly and takes action. Denman reveals the rest of her plan to get the rest of the girls – making others do her dirty work for her. Read, enjoy, and review! Take care everyone, and since I don't say it nearly often enough I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my story. It means so much to me, so thank you : ]

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Dr. Denman

I smirked and stretched casually in the chair behind my desk and cast my eyes at the fidgety kid sitting across from me. I let my arms come to rest on my desk and leaned forward, giving him my brightest smile.

"I'm glad you decided to help me, Zane. You're doing the right thing, you know."

"I know."

"Absolutely. What better way to make this whole mess just go away and to let Rikki know how much you really love her at the same time – I'm sure you know that's something that every girl wants to know; Rikki is safe, and by the same token I get just what I want. Have you decided which of the girls you're going to hand over?"

"Yes." He said quietly. I raised an eyebrow and watched him with a smirk – he was digging at the back of his hand with his chewed-down fingernails. I looked down at his hands and saw that the back of his hand was bright red now and rolled my eyes a little bit. This kid needed pills, but I could care less if he ever got them or not. I only need him for one thing, and that is to break up this little fish-and-fish-lovers club. After this I really couldn't care less what became of him. More than anything I can't believe how dumb he is – he really didn't pick up much from his father. Harrison would never have been this gullible. Zane really believed that I would only take one mermaid – and in exchange for the safety of his stupid, hood-rat girlfriend no less! I'd be taking her and the rest of them; he was just too stupid and blinded by love to let his logic work. Not that I cared, and I certainly wasn't complaining.

"Wonderful! Which one will it be?"

"Cora." He replied quietly and I watched him gulp. He still wouldn't look at me.

"Oh, don't look so glum, Mr. Bennett," I sighed and pushed myself away from the desk and stood up, sitting on the edge of the desk closest to him. I plucked my letter opener from the mug on my desk that held all of my pencils and pens and started tearing into the pile of mail, mostly bills and notices from my insurance company about my sabotaged laboratory, "You've made a good decision. You've made the smart decision – no one will miss her, after all, and that's certainly the most tactful to handle things. Don't you agree?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Good, good. Now, I need you to tell me anything you think that I should know."

"Her abilities. They're back. He scared them back into her. Trying to train her to defend herself with them now."

I sighed and tossed some junk mail into my wastebasket. He couldn't even speak in full sentences like a normal person anymore. I smirked and shook my head, assuming he was talking about the little liar's squeeze the McCartney boy. Either way her powers weren't the most of my concern since I had known from the file I stole that she couldn't save herself with them even when she had them. It was the second part of what he said that frustrated me.

"Has it worked?"

"A little. Once."

"Well then, Zane, you're just going to have to scare them back out of her, aren't you? Better yet, dear, preferably I'd like for you to bring her to me as incapacitated as possible. I can kill the little monster myself." I smiled pleasantly at him and I watched him fidget, leaning forward to idly mess with some of the figurines on my desk. His hand was raw and bleeding a little from his anxious clawing at it and I rolled my eyes quickly before he froze, looked up at me and spoke.

"Wait… you want me to… to maim her?! I thought you just wanted me to bring her to you, you didn't tell me you wanted me to hurt her—"

My frown disappeared and I gripped the handle of the letter-opener in my hand and slammed it down hard without looking. The shaft of it was buried almost half way through the wood of my desk right between his pinky and ring fingers.

"I will be very explicit about what I want Mr. Bennett and I will get what I want! I don't care what you need to do – put her in a coma, drug her, break her arms for crying out loud I don't CARE. It's not like anybody would be getting the police involved, she's a wildcard! Nobody knows who she is, no one will bat an eye! You told me that her powers were back and that is a snag, but it would be an easily fixable one if you would just grow a pair and do as I say! Or will I have to switch my attention back to your girlfriend?!" I yanked the letter opener out of the desk in one pull and pointed the tip in his face.

"No! No… please don't touch her; I can do this, I'll do it, no problem. It won't be a problem."

"Well I certainly hope not. Otherwise we will have a problem won't we? Get out of here. One of my guys will call you this weekend." I didn't say another word. I saw him stare at me, pale-faced with his eyes glazed over before he stood up out of the chair he was in and left the room.

Once he was gone my grin spread back onto my face. I turned the letter opener in my hand again and instead of putting it back in its place I jammed it back into my desk again and sat back in my soft leather chair. Wrenching this little group apart was proving to be easier than I thought. I didn't care how long it took – obviously, the sooner the better – but I knew I would get what I wanted. I was willing to wait for it and when I had all four girls I was going to savor destroying them for a good, long while – one by one. And what's more: Even after they're dead I'll bask in the glory for longer than they've been alive.

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Rikki

It was not something I wanted to be hearing at that moment. It had been the day from hell; I'd gotten another D on a history exam turned back, my boss went on an angry tirade at work, I'd gone to check up on my dad at home after his release from the hospital only to find that he had gone out, but dear old mom was there. She tried to keep me there, tried to talk to me. I swore to myself a long, long time ago that I had nothing to say to her. So far it's been working for me and I had no desire to make that change.

"I'm sorry, Rikki. I can tell that you've had a bad day and everything, but… this is something that you need to be aware of. He wants me dead, Rikki." Cora had called after I had gotten home to tell me about a vision she had had. Now, I trusted her visions and they'd been right every other time, but this was too much.

"Cora, are you sure that maybe your visions aren't a little bit rusty after not having them for so long? Like… maybe ya need to break them back in or something – there's a chance this is just a false alarm. Zane is fine, he's just stressed out. Besides, and don't take this the wrong way… but I know you're still a little uncomfortable around him and maybe it's affecting your visions."

"I understand why you would say that, Rikki, and you're right – I am a little jumpy around him, still. But, that's the thing, Rikki. He's not fine and this isn't just stress. I know… I know you love him, please don't get mad. But I saw this through your eyes. I heard it through your ears, just like I could before I lost my visions. You're going to overhear a conversation that Zane has on the phone. He'll be talking to one of Denman's men; you will know. You'll hear everything that they're saying to one another – there is no possible mistake."

I sighed. I was tired and when I was tired I tended to be meaner than usual. But I had gone out on a limb already to try to be nice to this girl that had saved my butt more than once; even so I had to segway out of this conversation. I didn't want to hear it at the moment, my brain was so full of other miserable garbage that I don't think anymore would even fit. I sat down in a chair on the patio and took a long, slow drag of my cigarette. I was proud of myself – I had 'quit' a few times now but whatever. After living through today I considered this my well-earned reward. I closed my eyes and toned down my temper.

"I'll be careful, okay?"

"Please be, Rikki – he's really, really not well. I know you've got a lot going on, I know you don't want to think about this, but… just please. You know I won't be able to leave you alone if you're not, and I think you've been stalked enough for the time being, yeah?"

I smirked and rolled my eyes a little bit. Cora was a trip, but I knew she cared.

"I'll be careful. I promise." I said, hoping it would be enough for her. She was quiet for a second.

"Okay. Talk to you later, Rikki!"

"See ya." I replied and hung up. Now I had to worry about my own stress, Zane's stress, and now Cora was saying some things that sounded a little iffy. Is there something wrong with her, too? What else could crop up now?

-

Two Days Later – Rikki

I was thankful that the weekend was finally here. Things seemed to be calming down a little bit. I had redeemed myself a little bit grade-wise by getting an A- on the pop-quiz we took in class yesterday so I wasn't feeling too bad about that. I hadn't heard from mom since Wednesday when I saw her at dad's place, and now I was spending the weekend with Zane at his place. From the looks of it this was just going to be a nice, quiet Saturday night.

Boy, was I wrong. Zane and I were relaxing on the couch in his living-room watching Wanted. It felt just like old times; He was stretched out with his legs up and I was laying on top of him with my back against his chest. It was kind of nice – it didn't feel like anything was wrong, it didn't feel like anybody was stressed out. Just us, nobody and nothing else but us. Then I heard the phone ringing. I figured Zane would just ignore it; he never picked up the landline phone because it was never for him, only for his dad – who was never even around. If the call was for Zane it came in on his cell phone. This was why I was shocked when I felt him get out from under me and hurry off towards the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I'll be right back, babe, just stay there." He responded before he disappeared into the kitchen. I looked at the end table next to the couch – there was a phone there; why did he need to take this call in another room? I bit my lip and thought back to what Cora had told me a few days ago. It couldn't be true… could it? It had to just be her nerves messing with her visions. But even still I reached for the phone, hit the mute button and picked up to listen. I heard another man's voice, someone I didn't recognize.

"How are you going to get her?" I heard the man's voice.

"Don't know, yet." Zane's voice was quiet and I realized he was probably trying to keep me from hearing what he was saying. Pff – so much for THAT, sweetie.

"What do you mean, you 'don't know yet'? This is serious, Bennett! You'd better figure this out soon you idiot!"

"Hey, look. Denman didn't tell me to rush. She said to do it right and to not get caught, those were her requirements!" I heard Zane hiss over the line.

"Well she put me in charge of you and I am telling you to bring the Dean girl in fast. The faster we get this ball rolling the faster we get paid for this project and the faster Denman leaves your little girlfriend alone!"

I froze when the meaning of this guy's words sunk in. Zane was working with Denman. Whoever this guy was, he was in charge of Zane. And Zane had agreed to bring Cora to Denman… in order to make Denman call her goons off of me. I had heard it with my own ears, just like Cora said. And just like she had said, there was really no making a mistake about the words that I heard. Zane had snapped. He had completely lost it and had literally crossed over to the dark side. I shoved the phone back down onto the receiver and got up off of the couch. I reached for my purse that I had dropped on the floor and stuffed my feet back into my sneakers. I heard Zane come back into the room and stared daggers at him when our eyes met.

"Rikki…wh-where are you going?"

"Goodbye, Zane. For good this time, goodbye. We're done." I growled at him and started heading for the door. I felt him grab my arm and pull me back to him.

"Don't do this, Rikki – don't leave me! We can talk about this…"

"Talk about what?! That you've decided to play God with Denman?!"

I watched his face turn white.

"You heard that?" He asked. I didn't bother answering him.

"Who the hell do you think you are, Zane?! Who let you decide whose life means more than whose?! You've done some horrible things in the past Zane and you know what? I can see that you haven't changed a bit. You've gotten worse and everyone is right – you've lost your damn mind."

"I'm doing this for you! I need to keep her away from you, this is the only way that I can—" he started but I cut him off. I didn't want to even start to hear that nonsense.

"Have a nice life." I stormed towards the sliding glass door that led out of the living room into the back yard. I felt Zane reach for me and without another word I clenched my fingers and burned him. I burned him more than I ever had before and I watched him grip his hand and recoil away from me in pain before turning to leave. I jogged down the driveway and made sure he wasn't following me as I head back to my apartment before pulling my phone out of my pocket and punching in Cora's number.

"Hello?"

"Cora… it's Rikki."

"You heard it, didn't you." She was quiet for a minute before she responded. I sighed.

"Yeah, I did. Stay in the house with Lewis, and I mean that. Don't go anywhere by yourself. You were right."

-

Dr. Denman

Today was a major success. I received a frantic call from Zane Bennett to tell me that the Chadwick girl had just broken up with him and he was once again doubting himself. I told him, "Of course you're doing the right thing, she's just a fiery one, Zane. She'll appreciate this when it's all over, she still loves you and she'll love you even more for saving her." I hadn't even tried to hide my sarcasm this time and the kid had eagerly eaten up every word. What an idiot. But it was a great thing for me because the snapping of Zane Bennett phase of my plan was over and now I was able to move my attention back to the sweet, airheaded Cleo Setori. It shouldn't be hard to trick this one. I'll have my boys pick up that little brat's lover-boy, what's his name… Nathan, I believe. Some waiter over at the Sheppard's Inn. We'll bring him back, make him leave the little sweetheart a message telling her to "come meet him," and we'll drag her in as well. Once Rikki finds out that Zane has brought Cora Dean to me, I have no doubt that she'll come to me all on her own in order to save her stupid little friend. Then there only leaves the Gilbert girl. The smart, responsible one. Well, I have no doubts that the smart responsible one would have no problem using her smarts to figure out how her silly little friend Cleo has been tricked and being so responsible she would certainly try to save her friend.

I smirked. Their stupid little mermaid connection was doing them far more harm than good. The best thing? I wouldn't have to raise a finger to bring any of them to me; they'd all either be brought to me or would come to me on their own, trying to be heroes. Well, let them try – and let them fail. This was shaping up to be a very happy New Year indeed, and I planned on keeping my resolution this year.

These girls are mine.

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