No, I don't own.

"Unless you want a fist in the gill, you better back off." Anna growled at a grey shadow slicing through the water around her. She shook her fist at it and slung her underwater clipboard up onto the deck of her boat. Anna hauled herself up, shaking water off her tail.

A few hours later she finished entering the last of the figures into a spreadsheet. A local company had hired her to do a survey of the local fish populations. It was a nice job, one she was uniquely suited to. At least she didn't have to worry about equipment malfunctions.

She sent off the report and lounged on the deck, enjoying the sun on her tan skin. A beep startled her, bringing her out of her daydreams of turquoise water. Anna wandered under the deck, brought up the computer screen as she lazily leaned against the desk.

As she scanned the e-mail her posture changed. Her muscles tightened, her half closed eyes opened wide. She straightened up instead of lounging.

Anna typed out a two word reply and dashed up onto the deck. Not even bothering with the sail, she pulled the pin out of the mast and let it collapse back into the groove in the deck. Racing back to the controls, she gunned the motor and whipped the boat around in a tight turn. The sudden waves caused by the boat scared away the shark that was still circling, entranced by the unusual scent in the water.

Anna waited impatiently, tapping her fingers against the door frame as she listened for footsteps inside the quiet house.

"Come on, I know you can see me." She hissed. She glanced behind her, noting the inconspicuous sedan that was parked on the other side of the street, the same one that had been here last time she had come.

"Anna, thanks for-" The door opened.

"Cadel, get away from the door!" A voice she didn't recognize called from within the house. Anna slipped in quickly and shut the door behind her, locking it with a flick of her fingers. A tall man, looking slightly rumpled, came down the stairs and grabbed Cadel by the shoulder, pulling him back a couple of steps.

"Who are you?" He demanded.

"I'm Anna Mallan. I'm a friend of Cadels."

"Miss Mallan, I'm afraid now isn't the best time…" Anna sighed and brushed by him, walking into the kitchen.

"So what happened?" She asked.

Cadel

Cadel thought Anna took the news rather well. She sat at the table calmly, her face going slightly white as he told her.

"You shouldn't get involved." Saul told her bluntly after a few minutes of silence. Cadel watched silently as Anna fixed the detective with her piercing bicolor glare.

"I'm already involved." She told him. "And by the way, you really need to train your guards better. It was ridiculously easy to get my boat out of the marina."

"What boat?" Saul asked.

"My catamaran, the one you seized a couple months back."

"Anna helped me get away from Prosper." Cadel clarified. Saul's eyes widened, and Anna smirked at his expression.

"Anyway, if you need to get people out then I'd be happy to offer my boat again." Anna said.

"No." Saul said. "And how did you get out of the marina?" He sounded thoroughly mystified, even if her was trying to hide it.

"That's for me to know and you not to." Anna told him firmly.

Trader came into the kitchen just as Saul was about to open his mouth. "That's settled. I've found emergency accommodation for Hamish and the twins, down in Maroubra. Oh, hello, Annabelle."

"Anna, Trader. Anna."

"Right. Unfortunately, no one can take Sonja for the night, but that's okay. I'll sleep here myself and make sure she's looked after properly."

"I could take Sonja." Anna volunteered.

Trader looked thoughtful for a second before he shook his head and smiled at her. "You don't have the qualifications to care for her. I'd hate for something to happen."

"Are they going to be together?" Cadel asked. Trader winked at him.

"Oh yes. It's a big house by the ocean. They'll love it." Cadel remembered Judith's mansion by the ocean. "And you can help those kids pack." Trade turned to Saul. "And you wanted a quick run of the alarm system?" He guided the detective out of the room. Cadel trotted along behind them. Just as he was crossing the threshold, the turned and looked over his shoulder. Anna was still sitting at the table. She was frowning, and drumming her fingers on the wood.

Anna

Everyone rushed around, getting things ready for the other kids to leave. Anna wandered around, avoiding the detective and Trader whenever she could. Something about the way she had been shot down when she offered to take Sonja bothered her slightly, made the hair on the back of her neck prickle. Eventually she found herself in Sonja's room.

Sonja's wheelchair was facing away from the door. Anna cleared her throat hesitantly. The wheelchair turned and Sonja twitched as she saw Anna.

"I've been thinking," Anna began. "About what you asked me last time. And honestly, I'm not really sure why I did that to Flitter. It didn't hurt him, at least, I don't think it did. I don't know, I can't talk to him." Anna settled into a chair. Sonja turned to face her. She didn't say a thing.

"Also, I think I just wanted to see if it was possible. To see if I could create something, the way my father could. Maybe just to see if I was alone in the world." Anna could see the confusion in Sonja's eyes. She smiled ruefully. "It's a long story."

"I'm-not-going-anywhere." Sonja typed out.

"Well, if you have time…" Anna shut the door and crossed over into the bathroom. She shut that door also, leaving Sonja in the bed room. She had seen herself changing. It wasn't pretty. Anna turned on the water into the tub and slid her legs underneath, riding out the pain.

Anna did a little sort of army crawl across the floor of the bathroom, using her muscular tail as propulsion. It was a technique she had perfected. She reached up and opened the door, swinging it wide.

"This is why." She said, knowing her eyes were filled with sadness.

Cadel

Cadel watched the rest of the squad pull away. The house was strangely quiet, deserted. It gave everything that had happened that day more weight, brought it crashing down on his head. He closed the door and rested his head against it, rubbing his eyes. He walked slowly toward Sonja's closed door. A muffled voice was coming from the other side. It was lighter than Saul's or Traders. Cade frowned and opened the door. Anna was sitting on Sonja's bed with a brush in one hand, gently teasing her hair out.

"… when they arrested my father I was eighteen, and had barely managed to weasel my way into a GED from the high school I was going to. They were ready to kick me out, but the degrees were already printed, so they just gave it to me, kicked me out early. I saw the police cars coming from around the block, so I grabbed all the records he had kept on me over the years and went out the back door. I had just gotten my boat, Miranda's Hope, named after my mother, and I left. Sailed away and didn't come back." Cadel stood frozen in the doorway, unsure whether to leave or stay.

"Why-is-the-boat-your-mothers-hope?" Sonja tapped out. Anna smiled slightly.

"My mother died giving birth to me. My father, or course, couldn't let her go to the hospital, and there were complications. The boat wasn't my mothers hope for the future. I was."

This was one of my first times bouncing viewpoints around, so if i could get some feed back on that, it would be great.

if I could get any feed back at all it would be wonderful.

That's aimed at you, dear reader.