"Well, this is a nice surprise," Dave said after he had opened the door to the beachhouse he and Aaron owned and found Alex on his doorstep.

Alex kissed Dave's cheek, but didn't dare do anything else until she knew for sure his intentions.

"We need to talk, Dave," Alex told him.

Dave studied Alex's expression and body language and knew it was time.

"Yes, we do," Dave agreed.

"So where's Aaron? This involves him to," Alex asked.

"He went for a run along the beach," Dave said. "He should be back shortly. He likes to go in the early evening hours when it isn't so hot."

"We'll wait for him to return then, as I would like to talk to both of you," Alex said.

Dave nodded and knew what was coming. He had been meaning to talk to her anyway for the last week at least and had been putting it off, but now it was time to pay the piper.

"Can I offer you something to drink, while we are waiting on Aaron to return from his run?"

"You know I love your lemonade. If you have a pitcher already brewed I'll take that," Alex said and Dave nodded.

"We always have lemonade, especially in the summer," Dave said, as he opened the refrigerator door.

It was only a minute later that Dave was placing a nice, cool glass before her.

Alex took a sip and found it just like she expected, absolutely perfect with just a hint of a bite and a sweetness that wasn't too cloying.

"This is just perfect," Alex said taking another sip soothing her suddenly parched throat.

"Glad you like it, as it means you'll keep coming back for more," Dave grinned.

Suddenly the side door of the beachhouse opened and they heard the screen slam.

Aaron walked into the kitchen to see Alex sitting at the island counter, about halfway through a glass of lemonade.

"Well, this is a nice surprise," Aaron said, not realizing they had a guest, but then, Alex's car would be parked in the lot, which was not close to here.

"Alex said she wanted to talk to both of us," Dave explained his tone even, but the look he gave Aaron, was telling him that now was the time to reveal their secret. Alex had somehow figured out that they were exactly human, even if they looked it.

"I'll just go take a quick shower, change clothes and then we can talk," Aaron said Alex nodded.

Alex couldn't blame Aaron for wanting to get a shower or to change clothes, as he had sweat all over his forehead and arms and she was sure it was all over the rest of his body as well, which was bound to be uncomfortable.

"I'll meet you in the den," Aaron said.

"I'll prepare some snacks, as I have a feeling this is going be a long discussion," Dave said.

Aaron just nodded and headed for the stairs where the full bathroom was.

Dave prepared some snacks quickly, just little cookies and cakes that came from a box, putting them on a plate neatly arranged.

"If you could bring that pitcher of lemonade and several glasses I would appreciate it Alex," Dave requested of his girlfriend.

"Of course," Alex agreed, as she picked up the pitcher that was sitting on the island counter, and got down two other glasses from the cabinet. She transported all this to the den and set them on the coasters already on the coffee table. There had only been two originally and now there was three, since she she spent so much time here at Dave's and Aaron's home.

Aaron came back freshly dressed from his shower in jean shorts and a short sleeved collared shirt, his black hair damp, but looking more comfortable.

"So you wanted to discuss something?" Dave asked, once he had set the snacks on the table.

"First off, I'm going to tell you a great secret I've been keeping from you, but after I have imparted it, I expect you to be completely honest with me afterwards," Alex told them firmly.

There, that was as close as Alex could get to implying that she knew their secret without actually saying the words and Dave and Aaron seemed to understand because the two men looked at each other and then nodded at Alex.

"I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I am a witch," Alex began and displayed a small portion of her powers by forming a little blue witchlight that hovered above her head.

"I thought witches and warlocks died out hundred of years ago," Aaron said looking at the small blue witchlight in amazement.

"Most of us did," Alex acknowledged looking sad. "However, a few hundred of us, at least in our part of the world, went into hiding. My family has owned this cove for over 800 years. It is several miles across and we built a town there. The cove is only so big though, so some magicals leave to seek their fortune elsewhere and marry regular people and have children. We have to be very careful of who we tell, as some people react with fear or disgust or report us to the government, where the persecution would likely start again. The only thing that protects us is secrecy. The town is well hidden from anyone who doesn't already know about it, but then, numerous spells have gone into it to make sure we are as protected as possible. For all I know, there might be other small communities of magicals in other isolated locations, but I don't know that for sure."

"We both believed that witches and warlocks had been totally annihilated," Dave murmured. "It's nice to know there are still some out there, even if there aren't as many as their once were."

"That's why you took Penelope and her brother in. They are also a warlock and witch and I'm assuming that one of their parents was human."

"Their mother. According to Penny, her parents were very happy together, before their unfortunate accident. She was ten and her brother was only eight when it happened. The thing is Penelope said her mother was pregnant when she died, only a few months along."

"That is so tragic," Dave said sympathetically.

"Poor kids," Aaron said sympathy in his tone.

"Yes, it was a terrible tragedy, but now Penelope her brother are quite happy as members of my family," Alex said. "We are quite close, as only a year separates us. I think of her, as my sister just as much as those that share my blood. I won't say that they don't miss their parents, of course, they do, they have every right, just that they've mostly put it behind them."

"I want to know why you didn't tell us this before," Dave asked.

"Because until recently I wasn't sure I was ever going to tell you. I know you understand why our community must remain a secret from the outside world. It's always hard for a magical tell someone that isn't a witch or warlock, because it's hard to tell if someone can be trusted absolutely," Alex said. "It wasn't until recently that I realized that I had fallen in love with you, Dave. I knew I had to tell you about the fact that I was a witch, before we could take our relationship any farther. To tell you the truth, I had to call my father and he had to release me from my vow, before I could tell either one of you."

"What vow?" Aaron asked immediately.

"The vow I would not tell anyone I was a witch without his permission unless my life was threatened and I used my powers to protect myself. He extracted this vow from me, more as a precaution, then because he didn't trust me to be sensible and cautious. I couldn't tell anybody literally, as my vow would have prevented me until dad released me. While not all magicals live within our community, most do. He extracted the same vow when I went off to college and then released me from it once I returned after I completed my education. I'm sure you can understand why dad is so cautious. We were nearly wiped out due to a lot of humans thinking of us as devil spawn. All it would take would be the right person to ignite a powder keg. All of us live in fear of them being the one that tells the wrong person and causes the death of magicals everywhere. We barely survived the last confrontation and we have nowhere near the numbers, at least not in the little town I grew up in, to go against numerous troops. We would be slaughtered, down to the last man woman and child, plain and simple. At least that's the likely possibility considering what happened the first time. No witch or warlock wants to take the risk that the government will respond any differently than they did 500 years ago."

"I don't think either Aaron and I can blame you for that," Dave said.

"I certainly can't," Aaron said shaking his head. "While the government might respond totally different than they did that day, there's no guarantees, so I don't blame you for keeping yourselves to yourselves."

"At the least I can see magicals being forced to work for the government the moment they're discovered, their families threatened unless they complied. Their way of life would likely be stomped all over," Dave said and Alex nodded in grim agreement.

"Exactly," Alex acknowledged. "Now, I told you my secret it's time for you to reveal whatever secrets you have. I am placing a lot of trust in you that you will not reveal that there are still magicals alive and well."

"We give you our vow that we won't," both Aaron and Dave said at the same time.

"Alright then," Alex acknowledged secretly relieved that she wasn't going to have to do what her father had suggested.

"What would you have done that would have been different?" Dave asked her suddenly.

"I was hoping you wouldn't think to ask that, but since you did I'll have to tell you," Alex said. "If neither one of you had accepted that I was a witch and reacted with anger, fear, loathing, or disgust than I would've been forced to take your memory and make you forget you ever met me. I would've gone back to my hometown and told the college that there was a family emergency that my family needed me to be there for. I might've mentioned that someone was dying, just to give some truth to my words. Technically, witches aren't supposed to lie, because it will affect their magic. The talent has been known to do the exact opposite of what you want, when you need it most, if you tell a lie and someone gets seriously hurt, not just emotionally hurt, but physically."

"Well, technically, you wouldn't be lying, as someone's always dying somewhere," said Aaron amused. "So long as you don't name someone specific the college would probably just assume it was a member of your family, your father or your mother or maybe an uncle or an aunt."

"Exactly," Alex shrugged. "It's pure sophistry, but still, it is the truth, even if it's not the whole truth."

"Well, you've been honest with us, so I guess that we need to be the same," Dave said began taking a deep breath. He had a suspicion that Alex actually knew, what he and Aaron were, though how she had figured it out if that was the case, he didn't yet know. After all, selkies were pure myth in today's world, even in Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia where they were originally from.

"You see Aaron and I are out of myth and legend ourselves. We are the selkie and we come from Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia, even if most everybody nowadays believe that we are just myths."

"We are dying out, because of all the toxic waste thrown into the ocean, but also because not many people believe in the selkies anymore," Aaron added.

"Both Aaron and I are a generation away from our children being stuck as seals," Dave added. "Our blood needs to be renewed badly, but Aaron and I have been here for years now and neither one of us has been successful in finding a mate."

"The call to mate is getting stronger with every passing month," Aaron said. "It's getting harder and harder to resist just putting a spell on a likely candidate and have them fall for one of us."

"This is not something we want to do," Dave acknowledged, "but we were both becoming rather desperate until the two of us ran into you on the beach. I was immediately attracted not just to the fact that you are gorgeous woman..."

Alex blushed at this, because while she knew she was pretty, nobody had ever called her gorgeous.

"...But we share a lot of the same ethics and values. You appreciate the sea and all it contains, truly appreciate. You'd never pollute the water with trash or toxic substances that would kill off the fish and the coral and other things. It's not easy to find such people anymore," Dave said.

"No, it's not," Alex acknowledged soberly.

"You don't look disbelieving what we're telling you," Aaron said studying Alex's expression.

"That's because in our little community, we probably have the largest colony of selkies that is known anywhere anymore. They live mostly in the sea near our town, but know they are free to come ashore and seek a mate of their own if they care to. Selkies are not unknown to our community. Every witch and warlock within our town know that they might be chosen as a mate of a selkie, but they also have to accept that. They have to be properly courted and won, as our laws are very strict in that area, and not just for the selkie, but for everyone.

"Anybody who is found to have used spells to tie their chosen partners is them is thrown out of the community or at least they are severely penalized as it all depends on the severity of the offense and age is also a factor.

"This is something that the leader of the selkies at the time agreed to when we allowed them to live in our portion of ocean, because our spells extend several miles out to sea. The selkies know very well they would not find a better home then they have right in our protected cove, where we work hard to keep the waters clean so that the sea life is abundant and trash or containment free. Any current leader always reinforces the pact that the original leader made 700 years ago and makes sure that no selkie abuses the privilege, as they are well aware that all of them could be thrown out to find their fates elsewhere if they do. My family has owned that cove for 800 years, so we have final say on who's allowed to live on what is technically, our land."

"So that's how you knew," Dave said amazement in his voice

"I didn't, not at first," Alex said. "I'm kind of embarrassed how long it took me to figure it out, since I've been known about selkies all my life. I won't say that it's a usual thing for one to take a mate from our community, but it's not that unusual either. Every few years one will, come ashore to seek a mate and I've seen this four times in my life while I was at home. Of course, I heard it happened once when I was in college to, as it's always talked about for a long time after it happens. It's considered something of an honor actually. Of course, in our case the children, while they are taught selkie ways, they also come and visit their mothers or their father, whichever one is just a magical frequently. It was a compromise that was reached by the first leader, as he was wise and knew that whichever parent wasn't a selkie had a right to see their children grow and to also have their spouse at home, even if they're gone for weeks at a time."

"So that's why you accepted our explanation so easily," Dave said relief in his voice.

"That's why," Alex said kissing Dave's bearded cheek. "There are plenty of sunken treasure ships not far from our little cove, as it was once the haven of pirates, so occasionally a selkie spouse will bring up gold from the sea where my father will convert it into good paper money to buy necessary things and sometimes to allow that person to splurge occasionally. Of course, that doesn't mean that the wife or the husband doesn't have a job within the community, but they might only make enough to support themselves and a couple of children so that way the problem is solved."

"Well, Dave it looks like you really fell into the cream," Aaron said amused. "I knew you were kind, generous and intelligent but I had no idea that your family has been like that for hundreds of years."

"I see it as more of a partnership," Alex said flushing at the compliment. "Selkies would be hunted to extinction if the government ever knew they existed. Even if the government put through laws that said they were a protected species, people would still want them as spouses or perhaps just to kill them, like they killed magicals so long ago. One of the reasons that my family has done this for so long is we have selkie blood within our own bloodline. It's one of the reasons our magic is so powerful, because of that selkie blood. We always have the most powerful magic users of every generation and even though the blood is incredibly diluted now, so that we haven't been able to transform into selkies in hundreds of years, we are still leaders of our community. We are still considered witches and warlocks of the sea and have incredible control over the weather and the water. We protect our little corner of the world as best we can."

"I knew there was a reason I was attracted to you, more than what is obvious," Dave said finally. "It never even occurred to me that you might have selkie blood, even if as you said it's incredibly diluted."

"It wouldn't have occurred to anyone since selkies are just legends nowadays," Aaron said.

"My dad will be happy for me, though he did tell me to be very careful. He'll happily welcome you to the family Dave. Of course, you'll have to talk to him, as he'll have to question you, I'm afraid. We're very cautious about who we invite to our secret community."

"I don't blame you," Aaron said Dave immediately agreed.

"You were nearly knocked off hundreds of years ago after all," Dave agreed.

"Now, I just need to find a mate for myself," Aaron sighed. "I'm very happy for Dave don't get me wrong, but I have been feeling the urge to mate, just like Dave has for quite sometime. I could just take a selkie female I know that, but to do so means that any children would lose the ability to transform into human form. I am the seventh generation, of my family since last time they took a human as a mate, so our blood needs to be renewed and this is true for Dave as well. I was so happy when we met you and Dave was more than interested. I was really hoping your relationship would go well and you would accept what you were told. Now you on the verge of mating."

"What about if I introduced you to my sister Penny," Alex suggested. "She's not directly related to me after all. You could at least give it a try, as she's not seeing anyone right now. She's been wanting to find a spouse of her own, but that's not always easy in a community of only a few thousand people. I know it might not go anywhere, but it doesn't hurt to introduce you at least. She shares a lot of the values and ethics that my whole family does, as she was raised by my parents after all."

"I wouldn't mind being introduced to her," Aaron decided. "As you said it might not work out, but it doesn't hurt for you to introduce me anyway."

"And if that doesn't work out I do have three sisters. I mean you and Dave aren't related after all, even if you've been best friends since childhood."

"Well, let's start with Penny first and then we'll see," Aaron said.

"Okay, I'll call her and she can be here in a few minutes," Alex said.

"How can she be here so fast?" Dave asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We can teleport," Alex explained. "It's how my dad came to visit me not to long ago to release me from my vow, as that needs to be done in person. He teleported into a corner of my living room, as I told him there were things I wanted to talk to him about, but not over the phone, which can be monitored. It's a skill you master by the time you're 18 or so and no one who is not of age is supposed to use it by themselves, as accidents happen. You are only supposed to practice under supervision of an adult, but teenagers being what they are often don't listen."

Both Aaron and Dave snorted at that.

"There have been some serious accidents because of stupidity on the part of those teenagers and they are forbidden from trying it for at least six months afterwards as a form of punishment," Alex added.

"But how do you prevent them from practicing alone?" Dave asked curiously.

"We get their oath on the subject, their magical oath. To break their oaths they know their magic will betray them at the worst possible time when they need it most, like to get them out of a sticky situation. Any oath you give means you won't try it until your punishment is over. Every magical over the age of 10 knows better than to try to get around their oath, as Hecate, Lady of Magic doesn't like it when you break your word and will get revenge, usually at the worst possible time, to show you that you don't know everything and are still learning. It's usually such an embarrassing and sometimes painful experience that the magical that broke their oath never does it again."

"Well, that's one way to get a teenager not to act preemptively," Aaron snorted, grinning.

"We like it," Alex grinned. "I'll call Penny now and I'll give her the coordinates to a corner of your living room where there's no windows close enough for anyone to see her teleport."

"You're cautious," Dave said.

"We have to be," Alex said simply. "You also have to be, so you out of anyone should understand why we are. Cautiousness is our byword if we want to keep living or at least keep ourselves free of the government finding out about us."

"Yeah, I do," Dave agreed soberly now, taking Alex's hand in his and giving it a squeeze and Alex gave him a beaming smile. "I would like to marry you Alex if you're agreeable. All I found out about you over the last few hours has only made me fall more in love with you. You're honorable and kind. What your family has done for our species is astonishing. It's nice to know that there is a colony of my kind living happily in the sea near your home."

"It'll be an honor," Alex said as she kissed Dave on the lips. "I love you too, as I told you earlier, but I had to push my own feelings to the side and make sure of your intentions before I agreed to marry you. My dad taught all of his children to be very cautious in choosing their spouses. I don't want to insult you, but he checked me for spells to make sure I wasn't under a love spell or a spell of attraction. I assured him I wasn't, but he just wanted to make sure. He was so pleased to find me spell free, so he'll have no trouble letting me marry you."

"I understand," Dave told Alex gently taking her into his arms. "I understand your father's cautiousness. Both our species would be wiped out, if the wrong people found out, we existed."

"Well, I think I'll take myself elsewhere," Aaron said amused, "if you're going to get all lovey-dovey."

Alex and Dave broke apart, but touched foreheads for a moment before turning to face Aaron.

"We promise we won't get to lovey-dovey in front of you," Dave said. "At least until you find a mate of your own. I know how much it hurts you to see us so close."

"That's okay, I understand," Aaron told his friend and his soon-to-be bride.

"I'm calling Penny now," Alex said and went into her contact list that then dialed the number for her.

Alex walked away she was talking to Penny and Dave and Aaron only caught a few words.

Finally, Alex hung up the phone and said, "She'll be here in a few minutes."

~~~Criminal Minds~~~