II. Total Control

Cleo gripped the iron bars of her crate and tried to keep back the contents of her stomach as the boat lurched. Rikki and Emma were in crates of their own, just far enough to touch fingertips if they extended their arms. All of them were in mermaid form. Though their powers were gone, the debilitating part of their condition remained.

"It'll be okay, Cleo," Emma tried, "Once we're off the boat, you won't feel so sick."

"I don't think she's seasick," Rikki said with scepticism, "Things aren't going to improve once we're off the boat."

"I was only trying to make her feel better!" Emma's tone suggested the beginning of an argument. "There's no reason to make things worse with your attitude."

"Girls! Please!" Cleo pleaded, "Let's not fight. Things are bad enough. We have to stick together, no matter what."

"You're right," Emma sighed, slumping back against the harsh metal of her crate. "I'm sorry."

"Will you be alright?" Rikki's voice softened as she asked Cleo.

"I think I'm just... in shock a bit. I thought they'd let Lewis go once he didn't transform... but then he did... and now we have no one to get help," she added, tears forming in her eyes.

"Maybe he'll get powers and can free us?" Rikki suggested.

"I can't believe that woman!" Emma cried, "Tricking us into losing our powers!"

"She could have been bluffing..." Cleo hoped more than believed.

"Oh, you think so?" The girls caught their breath as Denman strode into the cramped quarters, clipboard at the ready. "It's cute that you think I'd leave anything to chance, but I'm far more prepared than that. Even if you regain your powers by the full moon's affects wearing off, you'll be given a serum every day that keeps your powers dormant."

"And how are you going to get us to take the serum?" Rikki challenged.

"Oh, you won't need to 'take' it. The serum is injected directly into the bloodstream. I'm afraid you haven't got a choice."

"Shots!?" Cleo became even more distressed, and Emma tried to reach her hand as far as it would go to touch her in comfort if possible.

"I didn't come down here to discuss that particular part of your relocation. I came to warn you."

"Warn us?" Emma snorted. "I think you've done quite enough without fair warning, thanks."

"You're in a very precarious situation," Dr. Denman said with cold eyes fixed on Emma, "I'd mind my manners if I were you. I wanted to warn you that we're nearing the facility. If, by some miracle, you were able to free yourselves from your holding cells, it wouldn't get you far in your current form. We have tracers on you, so don't even think about swimming for it. And if one of you escapes, I guarantee, we'll make it worse for the rest of your friends. However, if you cooperate, things will go well. You'll be allowed a larger enclosure, better fish, and we might consider your own choice of mate once the time comes and we've acquired more male specimens like your friend."

"Mate?" Rikki whispered to Cleo. "What the bloody…?"

"Oh! And might I mention that there are cameras installed in every corner of your enclosure, so don't try any funny business. We will know if you require extra training. And I doubt you will enjoy your training."

"Enclosure!?" Emma exclaimed. "You can't do this!"

"Yes sweetheart, I can."

"These are people's lives you're messing with!" Rikki said; disgust clear in her features, "What you're doing is wrong."

She was condescending in her head shake. "No. You're not human anymore. As much as you try to hide it, and walk among people like you're still a human being, it's a lie. You are a mermaid. You are all mermaids. And the sooner you embrace what you are, the better it will be for the lot of you."

-x-

Tarps were thrown over their crates before each mermaid was carried off the boat and into the unknown of their new place. Cleo tried to count the turns, and listen for clues to their location, but she was not smart like Lewis and couldn't figure out how far they'd gone or how she might backtrack by the time the tarps were removed.

They'd been set down in a long aquarium walkway that could have been the prize of any marine park, but there was a quiet and eerie quality to it that reminded Cleo more of a nightmare than a family holiday.

For one, the people using the walkway were not cheerful spectators with an interest in the sea creatures, or little ones tugging excitedly on their mum and dad's shirts for a closer view. They were scientists in lab coats, wearing grim expressions of cold concentration. All of them carried folders or clipboards, reading strange devices on the sides of the glass, or jotting notes on whatever they thought important.

Worst of all was what they were observing in the tank.

In the vast dark of the blue, amongst the chunks of rock and coral and algae, shadows rippled past that were larger than any fish. Though their tails were long and dolphin-like in shape, they were human from the waist up, and there were more than just a few in the aquarium.

"How many of us has she got in her clutches?" Rikki hissed to Emma.

Denman signed the last form in the stack and then directed the men to pick up the three crates.

"We've been quite productive while biding our time to catch you," she said as they went on. "We now have a total of seventeen mermaids in our possession. Although I will give you credit; you three were the hardest to catch so far."

"Gee, thanks," Rikki muttered.

As they continued under the tunnel, one of the shadows swam close enough to be seen in full. Her red hair moved around her in the water like strange fire, and her skin was so pale it was nearly translucent under the unnatural lights.

Cleo waved timidly, but the mermaid only snarled.

"That's Charlotte. One of our most promising mermaids," Dr. Denman announced.

At the sight of the men carrying their loads, she eagerly pressed her hands to the glass and opened her mouth in what looked like a song.

Except for the tread of the men's feet, all was silent.

Dr. Denman laughed. "We've had to block the sound from her tank. She's really taken on the attributes of a siren. If we let her be heard, all my male workers would end up in the tank with her. Isn't that right, Paul?" she turned to one of the larger men who refused to look up. Denman laughed again. "It's remarkable."

Rikki and Emma wondered why she would talk so much about operations, though neither dared to say so aloud. Wouldn't it be safer to keep her mouth shut? They supposed that for one thing Denman must be pretty confident that they wouldn't escape, and maybe for another, she just couldn't help herself.

All Cleo could think of was the monstrous look in Charlotte's eyes, and how every bit of humanity seemed to be stripped from her. She didn't want to become that. She shrank back into her crate, trying to block the frightful images and silently cried.

Author's Note: For any of you who read my previous H2O story, I think it's clear by now that I will never forgive Charlotte for what she did in the show. She's pretty much an attempted home wrecker. I shall continue to make myself feel better and eviscerate her in fan fiction.

If you are all thoroughly disturbed by Dr. Denman, I consider myself a success.