... So it's been a while. I've actually had this chapter and two others written since I wrote my last chapter, but I've been using AO3 instead of this site to publish them. I need to remember to publish on here too!
Sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoy the chapter :)
...
As she stepped over the threshold, Lena barely had time to take in the mess of the office before she was quickly pulled in by the scruff and roughly shoved up against the door, the back of her head creating a loud bang as it made contact with the wooden pane. She let out a surprised yelp, trying to shove the attacker away but to no avail, the grip on her collar was too strong.
She looked down through her tinted goggles, from the hand clutching her jacket, traveling up the toned arm and over the muscular shoulder until she reached their face, unsurprised to find a pair of narrowed, piercing yellow eyes watching her like a hawk.
Being shoved up against things by the other woman was quickly becoming a habit apparently.
The woman snarled, pulling Lena forward once more and shoving her back into the door again. "What part of 'don't follow me' did you not understand, human?" Her eyes regarded Lena, swiping across her freckled face swiftly. "Do you think it funny, hm? Do I have to spell it out for you?"
"N-no I-"
"Spit it out!" The woman growled in her face, her hand moved towards Lena's collarbone, her slender fingers wrapping effortlessly around the engineer's neck. "Who sent you? Are you here to stop me?" She squeezed the pale flesh harshly, pushing against it enough for Lena to gasp as she grabbed at the blue fingers squeezing her neck. "Or spy on me?" The mermaid squeezed harder, roughly shoving Lena against the wall.
"I'm not,-" she coughed in between words, already feeling the bruises forming under her skin. Her vision started to darken, white spots dotted here and there. The taller of the two released her tight grip against Lena's neck, enough for her to be able to speak but not enough for her to make an escape. "here to stop you." Lena managed to gasp out.
That made the woman pause. She searched Lena's face for any hints of a lie, her face contorted into confusion when she found none. "You expect me to believe this? What other reason-"
Lena struggled to form words as the hand around her neck squeezed her airways even tighter, her sharp nails digging into her throat. "Told... you, I'm-" another cough "curious."
The mermaid barked out a harsh laugh, clearly not convinced by Lena's words. "And why should I believe any of this? You are a human, humans hate my kind and everything we stand for!" she seethed. She was reluctant to believe that this particular human was any different.
"Please…" Lena's face flushed a deep red from the struggle, her grip becoming weak against the hold of the periwinkle blue hand around her throat. The same hand closing her airways and making it harder for her to form words slackened its hold slightly, just enough for Lena to answer which the engineer took gladly.
Gasping for air, she gulped as oxygen flooded her lungs, causing her to feel a tad lightheaded and her throat sore as she searched for the words to express her truthfulness. "If I- wanted you dead, I'd have left you... on that beach." Speaking with her throat in bits was a difficult task, but Lena was determined to make her point.
True, the mermaid thought. She could have just been left to die or finished off on that beach, and yet here she was, with her fingers wrapped around her saviour's dainty little neck. It felt somewhat… wrong to kill this one. As foolish as this human was, the engineer did ensure she lived after that brutal attack.
The look on the taller woman's face would have made Lena laugh if she hadn't just been half strangled. Confusion marred the woman's features. Slowly, she uncurled her fingers from around the engineer's neck, frowning at at her. Lena clutched at her neck, shrinking against the wall as the taller figure still loomed over her. Lena lightly massaged her neck, wincing at the pain it brought her. She'd feel that in the morning- if she made it that far.
The silence stretched, and then…
"... You are an odd human," the mermaid looked at her curiously, squinting at her as if trying to figure out Lena's motives. "Most humans avoid our kind and yet you willingly follow."
"Guess I'm not most humans." Lena's voice rasped out. The mermaid's eyes narrowed.
"So you say."
Lena cleared her throat, heaving up coughs and spluttering. Apparently, strangulation made it hard to breath and talk, who'd have thought.
"Not gonna kill me...?"
The woman glowered at her dangerously, somehow still looking rather pretty even though she could probably kill Lena in a few seconds, she'd bet. She was beginning to wish she hadn't piped up before the taller woman spoke.
"What use are you to me, if dead? No, you're coming with me."
It was Lena's turn to look at the other woman incredulously. Had she heard her right? Were her ears bashed in at the same time she was strangled as well? "Begging your pardon?"
"You heard me. I need to keep an eye on you," She grabbed Lena by the front, pulling her closer before shoving her in front of herself and through the now open door. "So, move."
"But-"
"Ah ah ah," She gave another Lena another quick shove forward as she stepped through the door herself. "keep moving."
She tripped over her own feet as she was pushed out of the door. "You gonna let on any details ab-"
"Non."
The hand between her shoulder blades caused Lena to stumble from another push as she let out an indignant huff under her breath, turning around to slap at the blue hand. If this woman expected her to go along without knowing any details, she had another bloody thing coming.
"You expect me to blindly follow? Give me something to work with at least!"
The taller woman paused in her pushing, looking down her nose at Lena, though without her usual disgust when looking at a human. Not to say she trusted the annoyance, very far from it in fact. No, she was curious about the ship engineer. Never before had she been sought out and not attacked, like the many sailors she'd encountered. Most of them idiotic fools, thinking themselves capable of taking on one of her kind.
Lena was starting to become a bit flustered and uneasy under the mermaid's empty stare, but remained determined to hold her gaze as she stood her ground. The taller of the two seemed to contemplate something before nodding to herself.
"Something has been… stolen from us," Her nose wrinkled, as if admitting it left a bitter taste in her mouth. "I am retrieving it." she added simply.
"So… what is it?" Lena prompted.
Narrowed eyes stared her down, almost making Lena regret asking. Almost. She couldn't deny she was curious about what this mermaid was trashing the place looking for. Whatever it was, it must be valuable.
"That isn't your business to know."
Lena's lips twisted into a grimace. Really, the nerve of this woman! "Well then, you can kiss my help goodb-"
"Your help?"
The engineer looked up at the mermaid's face, surprised to find an expression that matched her own. Clearly the woman hasn't expected Lena to actually help her find whatever she had been searching for. Lena kept quiet, nodding once and waiting for the other to speak. She frowned down at Lena, a disgusted expression twisting her features as she uttered a quiet disgruntled sound.
"And I suppose you'll want some sort of reward? Compensation for your efforts?" the woman quipped, giving Lena a haughty look. She crossed her arms over her chest, leveling the engineer with a glare.
Lena blinked in confusion, slightly taken aback at the accusation. "Eh? Why would I want a reward?"
The mermaid laughed humourlessly, the echo bounced throughout the large warehouse area. "Simply because humans are selfish. I have studied your kind, and have never come across a human willing to help out of charity." She spat the last word as if it was an insult to Lena.
Lena scoffed at the petty comment. "Like I said, I ain't most humans. Remember that, yeah?"
The other woman clicked her tongue. "We shall see."
…..
They walked together in an uncomfortable silence, or rather, Lena walked in front of the other; constantly aware of the pair of yellow eyes watching her every move. The tension between them could probably be cut with that pen knife in the woman's pouch, something that Lena felt sure the mermaid preferred as she thought back to their last confrontation on the beach, remembering how she preferred Lena silent.
That however, hardly stopped Lena from bombarding the blue woman with questions.
"So how'd you have legs anyway? Is it some kind of spell?" She glanced over her shoulder at the taller woman, instantly noticing her grimace at all the questions Lena threw her way. "Are you always blue? What'd you look like underwater? How'd you-"
"Assez!"
Lena jumped, whirling around just in time to see the mermaid take a swipe at her which she promptly dodged, blinking backwards; arms outstretched and crouching in a defensive stance, facing the taller woman who was glaring across the room at her, yellow eyes darting between Lena's face and the now illuminated circular pad on her chest. She winced, maybe she'd asked a few too many questions.
The scowl thrown her way was some good evidence of that. "Mon dieu, how long must you pester me with questions before taking the hint? We are not friends, neither will we be."
As much as she disliked having the human around, she hoped it would play to other advantages, having a look out while she searched could prove useful, not to mention if she needed a quick escape, the young human could take the full blame for her actions. Sadly this meant letting said human tag along, having her put up with the obnoxious pest.
Lena huffed, straightening up from her low crouch. "How can you stand being so bloody quiet? It's drivin' me up the wall!"
"Some of us prefer the quiet."
She scoffed. "Yeah? Well not me."
She mermaid raised an eyebrow. If she hadn't been watching for it, Lena might have missed the way those yellow eyes flicked down towards her accelerator and back to her face. She followed the woman's gaze, finding the blue light in her chest still pulsating just over the low collar of her orange t-shirt. An idea instantly struck her.
Keeping her eyes on the woman, she proposed her idea. "How 'bout I tell you about this," Lena jerked a thumb towards her glowing chest, "and you answer only one of my questions. Sound fair?"
She watched as the mermaid's eyes scrutinised her as she straightened up herself. Lena could tell she was curious about her accelerator, especially after seeing what it could do. Maybe not enough to willingly answer her question but perhaps begrudgingly. The woman seemed to hesitate a small fraction, and Lena wondered what she could be thinking right this second.
"You first."
Lena's eyes lit up in slight surprise as she resisted the urge to smirk. That was a fast agreement, faster than she expected anyway. Hook, line, and sinker. She winced internally. Probably not the best choice of wording. "How can I trust you'll keep your word?"
"Unlike humans, I have honour."
She walked right into that one. "I've got plenty of honour, ta!" she huffed, crossing her arms over her anchor.
The mermaid hummed to herself. "Alors montrez-moi." at Lena's confused expression she repeated in English, "show me."
Lena cocked her head to the side, assessing the situation as she searched the taller woman's face. If she wanted the mermaid to trust her, she really needed to be open up and be trusting herself. Deciding to take the chance, she slowly began to cautiously walk her way back over to the woman, careful not to make any sudden moves as she kept her eyes trained on the other's face. "Alright, but you keep those claws to yourself, y'hear me?"
The woman's face became unreadable as she looked Lena up and down, her nose wrinkling as she did so. "I make no such promises.