I should mention that this is an AU fanfiction.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of H2O: Just Add Water. I own my own characters.
Enjoy!
Make sure to let me know what you think about the story in the review box!
Once done her bath, Charlotte had dried off and dressed in fresh clothes. She chose a deep purple blouse and a white skirt, with white flats to match. She stood outside her apartment room, waiting for Elizabeth when she saw a tall man walking down the hall. She looked down at her feet, trying not to draw too much attention to herself.
"Charlotte? Charlotte Watsford?" The man asked.
Looking up, Charlotte felt flustered by his appearance. He was really handsome. Dark hair, steel blue eyes and a fair complexion which was shadowed by his scruff. His body was muscular, yet lean.
"Uh...yes, that's me," She finally managed to reply.
"I'm Agent Reynolds. Elizabeth sent me to come and get you," He introduced, sticking out his hand.
She accepted his handshake and followed after his gesture to walk with him.
"Why couldn't she get me herself?" Charlotte asked.
"Business to take care of. She asked if I could show you the rest of the building. She's already told me why you're here," He explained.
"Oh, I see. Do...do all the other agents know why I'm here?" Charlotte asked.
Agent Reynolds simply nodded. As they walked, Charlotte looked up at him slightly, as he was only a quarter taller than her. She felt a hot flush in her face when she saw how perfectly the light came across his face. She wanted to paint it, put it on a canvas just so that she could stare at it all day long. She followed him as he took a left and the two came in to what appeared to be the cafeteria. There was a line-up of agents with food trays as they took what satisfied their needs. There was a plethora of chairs and tables, and vending machines with various products in them.
"Are you hungry? I know I am. You must have had a long trip and Agent Striker forgot to bring you here," Agent Reynolds offered.
Charlotte nodded and grimaced as she clenched her growling stomach. She did recall that Elizabeth hadn't offered to get her any food to eat.
"It's okay, she forgets to eat sometimes. Come on, we'll get a plate filled up for you," Joshua put a hand behind her back and guided her through the tall men.
She felt so small in comparison to all of these men, who were agents in the organization. Looking around, Charlotte realized that besides Elizabeth and herself, there weren't any other female agents anywhere! Coming up to the food line, Charlotte grabbed a plate and went down the line to see what was available. There were sandwiches, soups, chilis, a hamburger buffet, salads and a vegan section. Seriously? Who became vegan?
Putting together a hamburger and grabbing a water, Charlotte went to find a table while Agent Reynolds finished dishing up. She wasn't able to find an empty table, but she saw two available spots where there were some men sitting. They were laughing and seemed deep in conversation. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Charlotte strutted over to join them.
"Hello, do you mind if Agent Reynolds and I join you?" She asked, as he came up behind her.
"Oh yeah, come on in. We don't bite...well, this one might, but we won't," The one man, an African American replied, while pointing at the other man, who was white with blonde hair.
"Hey..." The blonde man let out an insulted whine.
"Geez, Mikus, lighten up. I was just kidding," The man said as Charlotte and Joshua took their seats.
Mikus looked at Charlotte.
"I'm Agent Andrew Mikus. This bonehead right here is Agent Jabari Danjuma," He introduced the two of them.
Charlotte gave a pleasant smile and shook their hands.
"Hi, I'm Charlotte Watsford," She replied back.
"That's a pretty name," Andrew complimented.
"Dude...you're gay," Jabari jabbed.
"Doesn't mean that I can't appreciate a female name or her obvious good looks," Andrew retaliated, gesturing to Charlotte.
Her face went bright red and she lowered her head as she looked down at her plate. Wow...she never heard had someone compliment on her looks before.
"Careful," Agent Reynolds warned.
"Agent Reynolds, chill. I'm as gay as a daisy in May," Mikus talked back.
Charlotte let out a genuinely loud laugh at his comment and almost couldn't control it. This guy...he was too funny. She almost felt embarrassed for how loud her laughter was, but she finally managed to calm down and took a few deep breaths.
"I'm sorry, that was too funny. I like you, Andrew Mikus," Charlotte voiced.
"Oh...thanks," Mikus replied, giving his right hand a quick little flip.
Finishing up her burger, Charlotte felt completely satisfied and was ready to see the rest of the agency. Disposing of her garbage, she regrouped with Agent Reynolds and continued on the tour. He showed her the gun range, the training room, the home theatre room, fitness center, Dojo, inventers room, and finally, the offices. They came walking up to a door marked Head Agent Elizabeth J. Striker
"Let's see if she's in."
Agent Reynolds knocked on the door and a reply came. Opening it, the two walked in and Charlotte was a little stunned by the color of the room. The walls were chartreuse green and had black trimming, with a maple hardwood floor. She died a little inside.
"Hey Charlotte, sorry I couldn't take you on the rest of the tour. I had paperwork to do. Did you enjoy seeing everything?" Elizabeth asked.
Charlotte nodded.
"Oh yes, everything is amazing. I can't believe you have all of this stuff."
"That and much more. You haven't even seen the jail cells," Elizabeth commented.
"Uhm, no thanks. I don't think I want to go down there," Charlotte responded.
Agent Reynolds and Elizabeth chuckled at her remark. Elizabeth got up from behind her desk and gave Joshua a quick but affectionate hug. Charlotte suddenly felt a bit silly, developing a small crush on the male agent so quickly without checking on a relationship status. It was obvious by the way the two looked at each other that they were very much in love. It reminded her of Lewis and Cleo...
"Oh, Joshua, the CIA wants you to track down one of their sources for some information. I wrote the details down on this. I'll take over. Charlotte, I've got to take you to the office two doors down. I need you to meet with our Superior, General Leblanc. After that, you're free to go off to bed," Elizabeth announced, pulling out her phone to look at the time.
Nodding, the three left Elizabeths' office and Joshua went on his way. Charlotte and Elizabeth walked two doors to the left. Elizabeth knocked but there was no answer. She tried again before going in to a trance like state to use her hearing abilities.
"Hmm, sounds like he's not in at the moment. I guess we can walk back to the apartments now."
So they walked and on the way, Charlotte opened up a can of questions.
"How come we're the only two females in the agency?"
"Well, we've never been able to find any other females with abilities. It's like they don't exist. Sometimes it's a bit annoying, but I've learned to deal with it," Elizabeth replied.
"Does Joshua have abilities?"
Elizabeth shook her head.
"He's the only one besides you that doesn't. But, he's completely fine with it."
"Well...why did the CIA want his help?" Charlotte continued.
"We join forces with the CIA, NSA and FBI. If they can't solve a case, they hand it over to us, or we team up. Joshua used to work for the CIA before he decided to join us."
"How come?"
Elizabeth didn't answer. She kept silent and for a moment, Charlotte saw the female agents chocolate brown eyes grow darker, as if reflecting on a bad memory.
"So...do you like it here so far?" Elizabeth asked.
Wow...she dodged that bullet.
Charlotte nodded.
"Oh yes, it's quite nice. When do I get started on training?" She asked.
"Tomorrow morning."
They came up to Charlottes' door and she was about to open it when she stopped. She turned back around to face Elizabeth.
"Do you have a swimming pool?"
She hadn't gone for a swim since she lost her tail.
"Uh...yeah. Miss the water, huh?"
Charlotte nodded.
"Do you?" She asked, remembering that Elizabeth once had a green tail.
Elizabeth shook her head.
"Hell no. I do not miss being a fish, especially since it almost killed me."
Understanding, Charlotte unlocked the door and stepped inside. Before closing it, she looked at the short brunette again.
"How do you get over something like that?" Charlotte asked.
Elizabeth didn't know what to say. She only experienced it for about a few months.
"Time, I guess. Time heals all wounds. Just be patient with yourself. Good-night, Charlotte."
"Good-night, Elizabeth."
Charlotte closed the door behind her. Giving a small grin, she bounded in to her room and opened up her dresser drawer to pull out her red one piece swimsuit. Slipping on her flip-flops, she then grabbed a towel and then left her room again. Taking the elevator down, she came to the main area and saw that the sun had already begun to set. The moon was up and it shimmered through the sun roof. She looked up to appreciate its' beauty.
"Looking for the swimming pool?" A male voice spoke up.
Charlotte jumped at the unexpectedness and turned around. It was Agent Reynolds, also garbed in swim attire. She simply nodded and he let out a friendly smile.
"Come on, it's this way."
She followed him to the end of the main area on the left and they went down a low slope that led them to the pool. It was about the same size as any swimming pool that she'd been to on the Gold Coast. Setting her towel and flip flops on a nearby chair, Charlotte lowered herself in to the water and felt relaxed as she let it embrace her body. She looked down; still expecting her golden tail to appear.
"What's wrong?" Joshua asked, noticing that she looked kind of glum.
"Oh...it's nothing," She replied.
He didn't know that she had been a mermaid like Elizabeth. It was probably best that he didn't know anyways.
Joshua swam back to the ladder and hopped out. He started walking away and Charlotte called out to him.
"Where are you going?!"
"Don't worry, I'm not leaving. I'll be right back," He promised.
He disappeared behind a wall and after a few minutes, the water in the pool began to stir. Waves were created and Charlotte looked surprised when Joshua returned.
"I thought that since you must have gone to the beach all of the time, that you must have missed it. So I thought that maybe we could try and make it more comforting for you," He explained, coming back in to the water.
"Thank-you."
He smiled and Charlotte felt her heart leap in to her throat. No! Don't do this to yourself. He's got a girlfriend and he's not going to break up with her! But he was being so nice to her! Charlotte felt a conflict inside herself. She wanted to go for it and revert back to who she was before coming to Canada, but at the same time, she would probably die at Elizabeths' hand if she found out that Charlotte had feelings for her boyfriend.
Pushing it all aside, Charlotte dove under the waves of the water and lost herself as she reminisced about being a mermaid. It melted away her stressful thoughts for the time being.
Morning rolled around and Charlotte let out a satisfying yawn as she sat up in bed and stretched. Getting out of bed, she dressed in a purple and gray sports bra and shorts to match. Socks and runners on her feet, she pulled her hair in to a ponytail and grabbed her water bottle that was sitting on her kitchen counter. It was already filled with a lemon inside.
The knock on her door came and she opened it and bounded out. Elizabeth was standing there, wearing a black sports bra and black leggings. She was barefoot.
"Ready to start your day?" Elizabeth asked, a gleeful look in her chocolate brown eyes.
Nodding, Charlotte followed her to the training room. Elizabeth got her right in to working out; to get her body ready for what would be coming. Charlotte was already a fit girl, mostly because of all the swimming that she did as a mermaid. Her muscles took everything easily and she only grew sore and tired by the time that training came to an end, an hour and a half later.
Sweat glistened off her forehead and she used the back of her hand to wipe it off. She took a big swig of her lemon water.
"Wow...I never thought that it would be this intense!" Charlotte voiced, breathing heavily.
"Oh trust me, it's just going to get even more so later on," Elizabeth responded, breathing heavily herself from the work-out.
The two hit the showers and headed up to Elizabeths' office. As they walked up the hallway, Elizabeth stopped in her tracks, then walked back two doors. She knocked.
"Come in!" Charlotte heard a voice on the other side yell.
Elizabeth gestured to Charlotte and she came on over. With the door opened, the young girl saw a man sitting behind a desk. His hair was gray and his eyes were blue. He had a strong jaw and sharp features.
"General Leblanc, this is Charlotte Watsford, the girl I told you would be joining our organization," Elizabeth introduced the two.
"Nice to meet you, General," Charlotte waved.
The man looked her up and down; a questioning look on his face. His eyebrows furrowed and Charlotte instantly felt as if he didn't like her very much.
"Watsford huh? You wouldn't happen to be related to a Gregory Watsford, would you?" He asked.
The name didn't sound familiar to Charlotte. She shook her head.
"Funny, you have his looks. How old are you, Charlotte?" He asked.
"I'm seventeen," Came the reply.
He looked at her again and Charlotte couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Elizabeth noticed and spoke up.
"General Leblanc, with all due respect, please stop looking at Charlotte like she was a lab rat."
"Sorry, but I swear that you look him. Here, does he look familiar?" He asked, pulling out a file and sliding it over to the two.
Elizabeth opened it up and saw that there was a picture of a man. He had dark hair, a pasty complexion and brown eyes. They almost looked a bit mischievous, with a hint of sadness to them. His profile was behind his photo.
"I've never seen this man before in my life," Charlotte said.
"General Leblanc, why did you bring this up?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well, this man is in charge of a case that he needs our help with and was hoping that you would assist in it," General Leblanc explained, and set the case file on the desk.
Elizabeth picked it up and opened it to read.
"It says here that the CIA has been investigating the disappearances of several women, all of whom are virtually unrelated in anyway. They don't know why they've disappeared or who is behind it," Elizabeth read.
She saw a list of names and began reading them off.
Evie McLaren
Rita Santos
Mimmi Blakely
Isabella Hartley
She stopped reading when she recognized three names. Elizabeth looked at Charlotte; a look of disbelief on her face.
"What is it?" Charlotte asked.
Elizabeth didn't say anything, but read the last three names instead.
Rikki Chadwick
Emma Gilbert
Cleo Sertori
Charlotte felt a wave of shock crash through her. The girls were missing? When did this happen? How long ago had they been missing for? Oh no... Charlotte looked at Elizabeth, who had the same grave look on her face. They both knew what was so grave about this situation, but Elizabeth dare not tell General Leblanc what it was.
"Agent Striker?" General Leblanc called out.
"Yes sir, I will definitely help out with this case. May I request one thing though?" Elizabeth asked.
"Anything."
"I want Charlotte to assist me on this."
He laughed.
"She hasn't even been trained properly yet!"
"I know that sir, and maybe this will be the best way to train her. Some people learn best while on the job. I'll get her trained on using a firearm, and then we will get right on the case," Elizabeth explained.
"Very well. I will prepare your flight plans. Oh, and I want Agent Reynolds to accompany the two of you. Agent Watsford will be waiting for you three in Queensland," General Leblanc replied.
Nodding, Elizabeth took the case file and the two left his office. Once they were out of earshot, Charlotte freaked out.
"Why would they go missing? Rikki, Cleo and Emma would never just leave, especially with all that they have going for them!"
"I know. It's a bit troubling. Did someone besides you and the boys know about their secret? Is there anyone that you can think of who would want to capture the girls?" Elizabeth asked.
Charlottes' mind went blank.
"No. But maybe Lewis can help us. We can meet him once we get there," Charlotte suggested.
"Whoa there, I can't do that. This Agent Watsford doesn't know about mermaids like I do. We're going to have to be smart about this. I'll figure it out. In the meantime, it looks like we're going back to the Gold Coast. Are you ready for that?" Elizabeth asked.
She had only been in Canada for about two days, but Charlotte wanted nothing more than to go back one more time. Maybe by helping Elizabeth on this case, she could redeem herself to Lewis and the girls by saving them.
"I'm more than ready for this. Let's get going."
Whoop whoop!
Sounds like a cross-over in the works, folks!
Let me know what you think.