Disclaimer: Don't own them, but someone else does.
Rating: pg? -let me know if it needs a higher rating
Title: Shark Hunters
WARNING/Authors notes: I have not beta'd this! And it is a story in progress! If you think the writing is atrociously horrid then let me know and I'll try to get around to fixing it when summer rolls around ;) Lets say I haven't found the time to finish it yet (though I will in a few weeks) and I got sick of it just sitting around. Feedback is welcome, I need to know if I should bother finishing this.
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He struggled, tangled helplessly in the nets. His powerful silver-blue fin flopping uselessly in the air as he was pulled upwards, closer to the deck, closer to the humans. His struggle was useless, he couldn't reach his knife to defend himself, they had him pinned to the deck now and were standing at a distance, staring. Their cold eyes mercilessly staring at his body in amazement; they hit him with a pole as he squirmed, poked him in the ribs to shut him up. 'Tie it in a tank' one man ordered, a gleam in his evil eyes as he reached down and ran a calloused hand roughly up his fin in sick wonder. He looked directly into the scared eyes and growled. 'you're mine!'
His eyes snapped open in fear but his breathing remained even. He blinked the sleep out of them and rolled over into a more comfortable position. He'd had these nightmares for years now, they didn't matter to him anymore, that part of his life no longer existed. He wasn't their prisoner anymore. The mantra quickly calmed him and he fell back to sleep.
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"What are you up to?" Dr. Wendy Smith asked as she leaned over Lucas's shoulder to gaze at the computer's screen. He looked up at her quickly, flashing a charming grin before gazing intently back at the screen.
"Not much. There's been reports of shark hunting in the area so the Captain asked if I'd look for more information."
"Shark hunting? Wasn't that business wiped out permanently fourteen years ago?"
"Yeah it was. That's why we're interested in the reports. Chances are that the sharks simply migrated and can't be accounted for. It's not to serious at the moment since the shark population has increased 65% and the threat of extinction has been wiped clean but it doesn't hurt to check up on it." He concluded, clicking on a video file. Rolling footage of a shark hunt presented itself as men and women hauled nets filled with the grey animals flopping desperately to get free. They tore the helpless creatures from the ropes and brutally sliced off all their fins before tossing the animals back into the water.
"That's awful." Wendy sighed and straightened up watching the screen sadly. Lucas went to search other files a moment until he realized she was still standing by him.
"Is there something wrong Dr. Smith?"
"No, actually I was wondering why you were doing this research here in the moon pool bay as opposed to in your room."
"Oh. It's to quite in there and the lighting was beginning to bother me." He turned back to the screen and frowned, trying to access other links.
"Is that all that's bothering you?" He sighed and a small smile graced his lips. There was no point in skipping the issue with her, seeing as she could read his mind if she wanted to. Sometimes, like now, he found that she was extremely perceptive.
"No. It's Tony." Lucas twisted in his seat to face her, wringing his hands nervously in front of him. "Sometimes he's just too much for me, you know?" Wendy nodded to let him explain. "I'm always trying to get work done and all he does is joke around and bother me. It's annoying."
"Have you told him this?" She asked gently.
"Sort of." He shrugged
"In other words only when you yell at him to leave you alone..."
"I don't yell...I just inform him loudly." She raised her eyebrows. "Okay okay, I yell. I can't help it. It's like he doesn't have any cares. He just does what he wants except when he's on duty."
"Sometimes it's difficult living with a person who has so much wound up energy. He tends to vent to whomever is in listening distance, and since you guys are together so often it's natural for him to always talk to you."
"Yeah that's what I figure, put that way though I think his energy levels are way above normal. He can't sit still."
"Talk to him Lucas. He's a great listener once you give him the chance, and he's a lot more perceptive than people give him credit for. He'll understand." Lucas nodded and smiled, feeling a little better now that he'd voiced his opinion. He liked having the man for a roommate, he kept things interesting, but sometimes it just got to him and he needed to vent. He turned back to his screen and something caught his eye. He tried to access the almost hidden file and became even more interested when nothing happened. It must be some sort of classified file that was misplaced in the system.
"That's odd." He murmured to himself.
"What is?" Wendy asked.
"This file. I almost missed it, it was hidden so well. I can't access it so I'm going to have to dig deeper."
"How long will it take? It's nothing illegal is it?"
"It doesn't say I 'can't' access it, it's just not letting me at the moment. That makes it perfectly legitimate." He grinned. "It shouldn't take more than half an hour, tops."
Okay, as long as your out of here in one hour. We've got an inspection today."
"Right, one hour and I ma out of your hair." He replied as his focus was quickly being dominated by the hidden file. Wendy chuckled, pat him on the shoulder and left to finish her duties.
Half an hour later Lucas gave a silent whoop of victory as he successfully accessed the file. It had been tougher than he'd thought, but nothing was to tough for Lucas the great! He allowed himself a moment to crack his knuckles before reaching to watch the vid. (hoping it was nothing to classified, he wasn't sure he wanted that kind of trouble today)
At first he was confused. It looked like a normal shark hunt, the nets being raised with a helpless creature in it. Then his eyes widened in amazement at what he was seeing. He sat, riveted to the screen, shock slowly sinking in as he realized exactly what was going on. Then horror and disbelief marred his features. This wasn't possible! It was absurd! But as he thought about it, he realized that just maybe it was possible. Quickly he transferred the file to his alcove and deleted all traces of tampering from the computer he was working at. He stood abruptly and left, not even thinking of stopping to say goodbye to Wendy. He had one hell of a lot more research to do before he could even think of producing this evidence to anyone, and tight knots began to form in his stomach. He couldn't classify his emotions, they were too wild at the moment. Finally reaching his room, relieved beyond belief that Tony wasn't there he sat down and began calling up all his hacking skills. He would get to the bottom of this.
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"This is great! I'll bring the marshmallows!" Tony exclaimed as he, Miguel and Tim walked down the corridor towards their quarters.
"It isn't a camping trip Tony." Tim chided. "We are supposed to be examining the vegetation for possible medicinal value."
"Oh please! I may not be the genius on the ship but I know as well as you that all those green plants have been discovered and researched elsewhere. This is a vacation buddy! I plan to make the most of it!" Bridger had decided that certain officers required a little rest and recovery time after the last shore leave they'd attempted. While most of the crew had been perfectly happy and enjoying their time off, certain members of the crew (Tony, Tim and Miguel included) had been frantically trying to ensure that threats aimed towards the ship had been removed. It hadn't been an easy two days and they'd nearly lost the ship but in the end everyone was able to return to their stations, only then finding out what threat they could have been under.
So now the UEO had granted those few members unofficial leave on an uninhabited island while the SeaQuest researched a near by fissure. They were just trying to make it look like research to stop complaints from other ships and certain crewmembers.
"I'll bring the gram crackers." Miguel offered.
"Then that leaves me to the chocolate." O'Neil gave in and Piccolo's grin lit up twice as large and he slapped them lightly on the back before he turned to head to his room to pack. "That's the spirit!" he called and disappeared. The two men chuckled lightly before heading off to their own rooms. They would be joining the other members of this little 'mission' in two hours. They had packing to do.
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Tony entered his room whistling loudly. He couldn't believe his luck! This trip was what he needed, he had to get off the ship and get some fresh air. Mostly he needed a place to expend some of his ever-gathering energy. Restlessness had been a part of him since he could remember but being cooped on a ship all the time, it was too much. He hardly ever went out to swim in the ocean because of the ships constant movement, and in the aqua tunnels he felt like an animal at the zoo, being watched by everyone he passed. He really didn't like that.
Lucas had his head stuck in his closet as he searched for the right type of clothing for their little expedition. Piccolo grinned at the neat piles already laid out beside the kids bag, on Tony's bed. He contemplated on sitting on them, but decided he'd been bugging the kid too much lately. There was only so much humour that a man could handle.
"Are you done yet?" He asked, sticking his head beside Lucas's and looking around the tiny closet space. It was amazing how much clothing the kid could cram into such a tiny space.
"Almost." Came the occupied reply.
"Good, than you can help me."
"Right." Lucas mocked good naturedly, walking over to their beds to begin placing his things into the bag. Tony shrugged and opened his own locker. He looked carefully around a moment, quickly decided exactly what he needed and began grabbing and tossing the items over to the bed.
"Hey!" Lucas complained as the older mans shirts and shorts began falling on top of his neat piles.
"My bed Lucas. Unless you want to give me the top bunk?" Hopeful eyes darted around the closets metal door and Lucas rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I didn't think so." Tony went back to tossing his stuff on his bed. A minute later he had everything he needed.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Just know exactly what you need in a matter of seconds? Every trip you go on you have exactly what you need and you never even think about it, you just toss it into a bag and go."
"Lucas, it's not that I don't think about it, it's just that I always know exactly what to take...that and I don't own enough clothing to start my own store makes it easier to choose."
"Ha ha. I don't own that much." Tony didn't say anything, instead he tossed a box into his bag and began shoving his clothes haphazardly on top of it. A moment later he looked up to find Lucas staring at him, deep in thought.
"What? Is there something on my face?" He brushed his nose in an attempt to wipe away the invisible particle. He kept his eyes humorous, but he was really starting to wonder about the kid. A couple days ago the kid had been mucking about on his computer like it was the end of the world and ever since then Tony had caught him staring at him. Other than that things were normal between them, which is why he didn't say anything.
"No, sorry. I was just lost in thought."
"You want to tell me about it?" Tony asked in one of his gentlest manners. He was starting to worry about the kid and wanted to help if he could.
"No, thanks though." Lucas quickly turned back to his packing and Tony shrugged. If the kid didn't want to confide in him he couldn't force it.
"Sure. I'm gonna go collect the swimming gear. Want me to grab your fins?" Lucas's head snapped up with an unreadable look before he shook his head like he was an idiot and shrugged.
"Sure. Thanks."
"No problem." Tony said slowly and then started heading towards the door.
"hey Tony?"
"Yeah?" He stopped and turned to look at his younger roommate who was opening and closing his mouth, trying to say something and stopping. "Is there something wrong Lucas?"
"No, no. Sorry. I'm just nervous about the trip."
"Nervous? Don't worry, you're gonna be with me! What could possibly go wrong?"
"Need I say more?"
"Shad up." Tony grinned and left the room. Once he was in the corridor his carefree grin slipped into a frown. Something was definitely bothering Lucas. Maybe he'd drill the kid for information on their vacation, for now he wanted to go visit Darwin and say goodbye to Dagwood.
Back in their room Lucas roughly finished packing, all his carefully folded clothes jammed messily into his bag. When the bed was clear he sighed and sat down rubbing his hands across his face. He'd almost asked Tony. What an idiot! He couldn't just blurt out what he'd seen in the files and ask what it was. How the hell could Tony answer anyway? Lucas was pretty sure what he had seen wasn't common knowledge.
He got up and began pacing his room. What to do? He couldn't keep it to himself any longer, he had to pass on the information he'd found. He just hoped it wasn't something that would seriously do damage, then again he wasn't sure if much more damage could be done. Those classified video files were pretty detailed...and painful as hell to watch. That's it! He'd had enough time to think, he needed to act.
He threw himself into his desks chair and switched on his terminal. Quickly he wrote small notes to Captain Bridger and Dr. Smith. They'd know what to do. Attaching the files that had bothered him for the last few days he sent them to the two chosen people. He hoped this was for the better.
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"Darwin?" Piccolo called through the vocorder, running a hand through his light brown hair, watching the moon pool.
"Hey fish, get over here!" He called again playfully. A moment later the water splashed and the dolphins grey head emerged with an indignant sqwak.
"Darwin not a fish!"
"Yeah yeah." Tony waved off the complaint and dunked the dolphin back under the water. Darwin came up a moment later and splashed him.
"Hey!"
"You like water more! Come swim! Get wet!" The dolphin called and Tony shook his head as he dried his face with his seaman issued blue shirt.
"Can't Darwin. You know I'm heading off ship for a while."
"Darwin knows. Darwin watch crew for you, tell you if trouble comes." The clicks and whistles were more subdued as the animal realized Piccolo wasn't going to play.
"Thanks fish." Tony patted his wet head affectionately, ignoring the nagging feeling of wanting to swim. He could do that later. "I'll see you when I get back." He turned to leave, pretending not to notice the splash that suddenly soaked the back of his shirt.
"Prince come home soon." Darwin called and Tony turned sharply, his brown eyes gazing at the dolphin.
"I'm no prince Darwin. Remember?" the dolphin ducked his head in admission.
"Darwin sorry. Tony come home soon. Tony have nice trip. Tony swim!" The man chuckled to himself and nodded to his friend.
"Sure thing Darwin." And he left, waving a good bye to Wendy who was checking on some experiment across the pool. "See you later alligate...um, Dr. Smith." He called and she waved, a brief smile lighting her lips. Tony grabbed the swimming gear out of a large storage closet and headed off to look for Dagwood. They'd be leaving soon and he wanted to make sure he saw the big guy before that time came.
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Ford carefully placed his bags along side the tree line with everyone else's belongings and headed back to the transport to help unload the rest of the equipment. Tony and Ortize were walking past him carrying large yellow waterproof boxes, talking animatedly to each other. It wasn't difficult to read the excitement in everything they did. It was going to be a fun few days.
Entering the shuttle he saw there was nothing left to take out and he gave the pilot the go ahead to get back to the ship, thanking him for the escort. The pilot saluted and soon he, Lucas, O'Neil, Ortize, Piccolo and Brody were standing on the deserted beach by their belongings in silence. For a few minuets they just breathed in the warm air, felt their muscles relaxing under the hot sun and the sand between their feet. A moment later the tranquil atmosphere was broken as Tony began stripping down beside them, pulling off his pants to reveal his bathing suite. Ford watched him amused.
"You wore your swim suite?" Tim asked as they watched him strip to the shorts and a tank-top.
"A man's gotta be prepared guys! Come on! We're on vacation!" Tony yelled and with a sudden movement he sprinted towards the ocean, running into it's warm water as far as he could before diving into the small waves. He yelled out in delight and disappeared under the water only to reappear a moment later. The men stood on the beach and watched him dive in and out of the waves. They looked at each other.
"We should unpack." Ford said.
"That would be a good idea." Brody backed him up. They turned to watch Piccolo again.
"Oh Forget that!" Lucas yelled and dove towards the pile of belongings, searching for his bag. The rest of the men were quick to follow and soon they were racing to the water, sand flying around their feet. For the next two hours they thoroughly enjoyed the carefree life, until it was time for lunch. One by one the drug themselves out of the water to start setting up their beach camp. Tony was the last one out, happily shaking the water out of his hair, pulling at the severely soaked white tank top. Ford watched him walk towards the camp, for a moment the mans hair looked silver as the sunlight bounced off the water.
"What can I do?" He asked as they were setting up the dinner and tents.
"Could you strike up the food tent?" Ford asked as he set about trying to start the fire.
"Sure." He bounced off, still grinning and with one hell of a lot of energy after such a long swim. How does he pull it off Ford wondered as he looked over to Ortize and Brody, happily collapsed under the shade of a palm tree. He looked over at Lucas and Tim as they set up the sleeping tents and frowned for a moment at the serious gaze Lucas was aiming at Tony. A moment later the kid was back to his job, joking with Tim as the tall man tried to figure out where the two polls connected. Shrugging Ford went back to the fire, determined to get it started with just the lighter he'd brought.
Piccolo suddenly plopped himself on a log beside Ford and grinned.
"This is the life eh? No worry's, no people bothering you to work...you gonna get that fire built any time soon? I'm getting hungry." Ford threw him a mock glare and turned back to the fire, glancing at the fully set up kitchen tent off to their right. The man was a fast worker when he was hungry. The fire caught and slowly built into a larger pile of licking flames.
"Happy?"
"No, I'm hungry." Tony grinned and went to retrieve the food as the rest of them flocked towards the blaze. Soon they were all cooking hotdogs and talking. Tony looked around happily noticing that each man looked relaxed, even Ford, which was saying something. When they were finished eating and cleaned up Tony stood.
"I'm gonna go take a walk, explore the woods a little. Anyone up for it?" A chorus of no's and one yes answered him and soon he and Tim were traipsing through the woods. They'd gotten about ten minutes into it when Tony stopped.
"What is it?" Tim asked, glancing around.
"I think I hear water. It's this way." Tony headed off to their left and then a bit deeper into the woods. Tim strained to hear and finally did, as they emerged into a small clearing and gazed out onto a lagoon. They both stared in awe. It wasn't huge, the other bank was only about twenty meters away. They stood on a small beach, smooth rocks to both their sides. Across the river the large rocks piled up high and were draped with foliage, a very light but steady flow of water flowed over a small section into the almost still and crystal clear pool. It dropped off fairly quickly and the sand soon turned to colourful vegetation tickling the waters base. Tim noticed a couple small blue fish swimming close to the surface.
"Wow." He said, and Tony quietly nodded, gazing at everything he could. It was a breathtaking sight. "We have to bring the guys here."
"Yeah." Tony agreed and stepped to the water's edge, dipping his hand in. "It's not to cold." He announced and brought his wet fingers to his lips, tasting the water. A smile lit his features. "It's also salt water." For a moment Tim was confused as to why that was a good thing, then he noticed Tony pull at his almost dry tank-top and it made sense. Tony would be able to breath in this water, which meant he could explore its depths. "Let's get back before they worry." The man stood up and Tim followed him, taking one last look at the beautiful scenery. A couple of minuets later he noticed Tony pull at his shirt again.
"Why don't you just take it off?" He asked and Tony looked at him confused. "Your shirt?" He pointed at the clingy material. "You look uncomfortable."
"Nah, I'm fine. It just hinders the breathing sometimes, you know, when it clings."
"So just take it off." The answer seemed simple to Tim, but Tony just smiled, shook his head negatively and kept walking. Tim didn't understand what the big deal was, none of them were wearing shirts, only Tony. And if he was worried about them seeing his gills he didn't need to be. It was general information to the group that he had them, and it had stopped shocking them a couple months back. But then again Tim wasn't the one with the gills so he really didn't know what to do. Maybe it was healthier to keep them protected from the atmosphere as much as possible. They were, after all, supposed to be breathing the water, not the air.
"Hey Tony?" He asked, the curiosity clear in his voice.
"Yeah?"
"Does it ever bother you to be breathing in the air constantly? I mean, I know your originally human and breath air, but now, with the gills, is it harder?" After a moment Tim was going to say he didn't have to answer when the happy voice of Piccolo carried back to him.
"Sometimes. I have to keep a balance with my body, you know? Gotta make sure I get the daily intake of salt water to function properly and all that. The more water the better, all apart of the daily diet." He threw a grin over his shoulder and Tim was silent a moment, contemplating this. He'd never actually spoken with Tony about his gills outside of small jokes. He'd never really thought much of them at all actually, seeing as they didn't interfere with his own life.
"Does that bother you?"
"Only when I don't get to swim. Some of the longer shifts are tuff, but after a few minuets in the water it's like a total energizer."
"Is the captain aware of this? He could give you longer breaks or something for a quick dip with Darwin."
"Nah, I don't fancy favouritism Tim, you know? Besides, I'm always full of energy, calming down once or twice a week is probably better for the sake of the crew." The shorter man joked and pushed some foliage out of the way. It swung back and smacked Tim in the chest.
"Hey!"
"Sorry." Tony apologized, clearly not feeling bad for the act. A moment later they emerged into the sunlit beach and walked a short way back to their campsite. The other four had set up a makeshift volley ball court and were currently diving around in the sand, pausing to give the occasional high five to their partner.
"Hey! You guys playing or what?" Brody called over to them. Tony noticed O'Neil frown slightly. He probably wanted to go read in the shade or something, and actually relax.
"No, I'm going to head out to the reef for a bit. Probably won't be back for about three hours."
"Tony, that reef is a good two miles away." Ford reminded him and Tony rolled his eyes.
"Commander, I ain't gonna drown or nothin'. I'm just gonna relax a bit while I don't have to worry about any of you yaps getting dragged under the water."
"How nice, a self-proclaimed life-guard." Brody mocked as he distractedly tried to wipe some sand out of his eye.
"Hey, as the best swimmer of the group I take it as my right." Tony grinned and headed back to the tents for a minute. A moment later he went tearing by them, yelling a 'be good' warning over his shoulder as he dove into the waves and disappeared. They stood and watched for a minute.
"Wish I could just go for a swim under water for hours on end." Miguel commented.
"Why?" Lucas demanded. "I can't be all great, I mean I'm sure there's probably tonnes of reasons that he would wish he didn't have gills."
"I'm just saying it would be nice Lucas. Feeling a little protective there? Is there something you know that you're not telling us?" Miguel teased.
"He didn't have his tank-top on." O'Neil contemplated out loud and then blushed as they raised their eyebrows. He hurried to explain. "We were talking earlier and I asked why he always wore it when he swam. Didn't answer me though. I figure he's just self-conscious or something, not that he has anything to be self-conscious about. We all know he has gills, obviously."
"Does he always swim with a dagger?" Ford broke into the conversation.
"Yep. Says he's afraid some nasty creature will attack him and he might need it." They nodded and gazed off at the water a moment.
"Oh! You guys should have seen this lagoon we found." O'Neil began and they turned to listen. Occasionally Lucas would gaze out at the ocean in thought.
Two hours later they were sitting around the fire, watching the sun beginning to set in the unbelievably far distance. Lucas had been relatively quite the entire day and the fact had not been lost on any of the men. He'd figured it would only be a matter of time before someone approached him about it, and inwardly sighed when he heard Brody nervously clear his throat and then softly call his name.
"Yeah?" Lucas replied as casually as he could.
"What's up? You seem kinda distant, like your worried or something."
"I'm fine. Great. Couldn't be better." He rushed and felt his cheeks heat up at the raised eyebrows. Quietly he gave in and began a more serious explanation. "Have you ever felt like you knew somebody and then one day your entire opinion of them is crushed into something else?" They all started staring into the flames, trying to think of something like that. Each man found a relationship example but decided that that was not the type of opinion Lucas was asking about. It seemed like something more, and the way the kids shoulders were slumped increased the desire to help him out. He was like their little brother and friend.
"Are you talking about someone we know?" Miguel asked
"no. well, maybe."
"What's wrong with Tony?" Tim asked and Lucas's head snapped up in surprise.
"Who said it was Tony?" He demanded defensively.
"Come on Lucas. We've seen you watching him carefully lately, like your trying to analyze him or something. We aren't blind." Ford admonished, then he reached over and grabbed a piece of wood to toss onto the fire. Lucas caved in defeat, finally having someone to talk to, but he didn't want to say too much. He'd already done enough sending those files to Bridger and Wendy.
"I just thought he was this completely happy go lucky guy, and now I'm not so sure."
"You think he's hiding something?"
"I know he's hiding something." Lucas affirmed and wrung his hands together nervously. "I just don't know what to do with the knowledge."
"Tell him. Tony's never seemed to lie to us about stuff, and he's always answered questions..."
"How many personal questions have you ever asked him?" Lucas asked quietly, looking carefully at each member of the group. "How much do you really know about him? I mean. I'm his roommate. We talk a lot, he bugs the hell out of me, I know he's gone to prison, he has parents somewhere, and he has trouble reading because his eyes are adapted to water and the words get jumbled around for him but that's pretty much it."
"His taste in bad music." Tim chimed in making a face.
"and clothes." Ford grumbled.
"I like some of those clothes!" Miguel defended the missing man's style and they laughed, but stopped when Lucas didn't join in.
"Come on Lucas. It isn't that bad, he just doesn't talk. We haven't asked him the right questions, that's all."
"I don't think it is." The teenager challenged and they sighed.
"Look, how about we try to learn more about him then. We've got two more nights here after today. Plenty of time to get to know the joker." Ford tried to ease Lucas's worries. Lucas leaned back, a doubtful expression on his face.
"Whatever."
"If you told us why you've suddenly become so worried we'd understand better." Tim said carefully.
"No, I won't disrespect his privacy."
"Here he comes." Brody warned and they all turned to watch the man of their discussion stride powerfully out of the water, a huge smile covering his lips.
"Is his hair blue?" Ford asked as they watched him approach. Sure enough his hair looked like it was silver and blue as it was matted to his head. However a moment later they saw it change to its familiar light brown. "Must have been the light's reflection," He finished as an explanation. The man trudged up and flopped on a log beside Miguel, shaking his wet head cheerfully, fully intending to splash them all. A chorus of complaints rose up and he grinned even wider.
"I see you enjoyed your swim." Brody commented and wiped a drop of water from his forehead.
"I'd have to be dead not to! It's beautiful out there! There's a pack of dolphins off the reef, they say a storms hitting in the distance so they're staying in shore for a while." They all blanched at his comment and he immediately noticed what he'd said. "It was a joke guys. Jeeze, lighten up." They rolled their eyes and everyone fell into companionable silence, finding it slightly difficult to ignore Piccolo's panting breaths. It must have been one hell of a swim they noted.
He hadn't put a shirt on yet and they couldn't help glancing at his gills, the filaments lifting and falling with every breath. They seemed so natural on his well formed torso, in that moment it was hard to picture him without them. Suddenly he stood and went to throw a shirt on, obviously becoming self-conscious, but they all seemed to realize that him sitting there like that for so long was special. IT seemed almost like an explicit act of trust. They sat around for the rest of the night, Ford pulling out the guitar he'd brought along with him and softly playing it. Finally they fell asleep under the stars, not bothering to use the tents on such a perfect night.
Lucas and Miguel lay awake for a long time, talking in hushed tones, almost to quite to notice. The rest of the men slept soundly, Piccolo and Tim occasionally rolling over in their sleep. Miguel kept glancing over at Tony, who as closest to them, and was noticing that the mans sleep was gradually becoming more restless.
"See." Lucas says quietly. They'd been talking about a lot of things, but kept coming back to Tony. Miguel was actually starting to wonder about their always loud and happy friend. "He always gets more restless around this time. Sometimes he wakes up and leaves. Other times he just goes back to sleep."
"How do you know this?" Miguel asked and Lucas rolled his eyes.
"Miguel, I'm a teenage hacker. I am usually up all night on the computer. It's hard not to notice these things, but I don't think he knows I know."
"What do you think he dreams about?" The question was innocent enough, and Miguel was thrown off by the dark look that entered his young friends eyes.
"I can't say." He said with acid in his voice. Miguel stared at him in shock. If the kid was this angry about something Tony had said or done, than it must be one hell of a lot more serious than any of them thought. A sharp intake of breath from the man they were talking about had them closing their eyes instantaneously, feigning sleep. Quietly they listened to their friend move around silently and finally sigh. There was more shuffling and then a pen on paper. A moment later his feet shuffled by his head and he headed into the bushes. The two opened their eyes and looked at each other.
"Four out of the seven times he wakes up he leaves the room. Probably for a swim." Lucas explained. Miguel looked at the bushes and then leaned over to piccolo's sleeping bag, snatching the piece of paper he'd left.
I've gone for a walk to the Lagoon. Don't worry, I'll be back before the suns up. -Tony
"I'm gonna go after him." Lucas announced and went to get a compass from his bag and the directions he'd written down from Tim.
"I'll come too." Miguel offered, starting to crawl out of his bag. A hand on his arm stopped him and Lucas looked down, his eyes far more serious than they should have been this time of night.
"No. I need to talk with him alone. Sort some things out." Miguel nodded in understanding and lay back down. "Don't bother waiting. I doubt we'll be back until late." With that the young man disappeared into the foliage his friend had disappeared through earlier. His blonde head disappearing from the full moons light. Miguel sat back up and stared out at the ocean. He didn't understand what was going on, and Lucas was explaining things very minimally. It worried him, but he accepted that at the moment he wasn't needed. He didn't think he'd get much more rest tonight though.
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Lucas moved through the trees as quietly as he could, not wanting to disturb the tranquility that had erected itself over the tropical forest. He had to pause often to get his bearings. Hey, he was a computer genius, not a ranger. He didn't do this often. However a few minuets later he broke out of the trees onto a very small beach. He froze in shock at the serene beauty displayed. A Lagoon lit up perfectly in the full moons light, he could see right across the short distance. The light bounced off the carefully rippling water, the trees around were illuminated in a pale green that melted into black as they got denser. He stood there just gaping and trying to remember what he was seeing.
Suddenly he was shocked out of the dream and into an even crazier reality as the waters calm surface roughly broke and Tony's upper body rose above the water and sank back down until only his head was showing, the water dropping around him. Then he began moving with amazing speed to the short distance across the water. He paused a moment under the steady stream of water coming from an overhanging rock, half a meter above his head. Then finally he pulled his body out of the water and rolled onto the ledge, lazily lying on his back and staring at the stars.
Lucas stopped breathing. He stared across at his friend who was fully illuminated by the moon, the water glistening off his skin, the waters fall broken by his bodies dam. The young man was paralized, he just stood there staring. He'd known, he'd known for days know, but seeing it was something totally different, totally unbelievable. He just, he...oh god. Words couldn't describe what he felt as he gazed at his friend.
Across the water and lying in bliss in the cool stream was Tony. But a side of Tony that Lucas was sure very few had ever seen. His hair had turned a magnificent silver-blue, shimmering with the slightest movement. The outline of his gills could just be seen at this distance but it was his legs that captivated Lucas's attention; Because they weren't there. In their place was a large fin, silver-blue like his hair. It was as long as his legs, but in place of his feet were two almost translucent fins, about two and a half feet long, currently trickling over the rock ledge in the stream. It was true: Tony wasn't human. Lucas wasn't sure what he was, but a merman was the best classification he could come up with.
Finally Lucas took a few steps forward, closer to the waters edge, Tony looked over at that moment and saw him. The reaction was instantaneous as he threw himself back into the water in panic, obviously hoping Lucas hadn't seen. When he came back to the surface his hair was noticeably brown, but he made no attempt to come to the shore.
"Lucas!" He sputtered. "What the hell are you doing here?" For a moment Lucas didn't know how to respond.
"Uh, I was worried about you and wanted to make sure you were all right."
"Yeah, I'm good. You can go back, I'll be by later." He called across the water. Lucas picked up on the hidden desperation in his friend's voice. He didn't move, just kept watching Tony until he turned away in the water.
"Tony..." Lucas called out, stepping closer to the edge.
"Lucas, I...don't know...I just need a moment okay? I'll be out in a bit." He sounded defeated.
"Tony, I already knew." He tried again, and was glad to see the man stop in his swimming retreat and turn back, surprise in his features. "I think we really need to talk." Slowly he nodded and Lucas quickly stripped to his boxers and started wading into the water.
"Lucas, it might be better if you didn't come in." Tony called nervously.
"Forget it, I want to sit on those rocks, they looked comfortable." The water surrounded his body, instantly cooling it. He ducked under for a moment and came up with the salty taste on his lips. Then with strong sure strokes he swam across the water and past Tony to the rocks. Once there he looked up, contemplating how the hell to get up.
"Here." Tony's voice was suddenly beside him, startling him. "Climb up on my shoulder, like a stair or something." Lucas looked at him but couldn't catch his eyes. His hair was still brown.
"Thanks." A moment later he was on the rock, the water tickling his legs. He looked over at Tony. "You coming up?" His friend looked extremely nervous below him and Lucas felt his anger rise, but it wasn't directed at Tony.
"I don't think that's such a great idea." Lucas had never seen his friend so unsure.
"Tony." He said softly. "I won't hurt you, you don't have to hide from me." Tony finally looked into his eyes and Lucas was shocked to find them the same silver-blue as his hair and fin. "Please." He asked. Tony studied him for a moment, seriously, until he made up his mind. Reaching up to grab the ledge he gave a powerful kick with his tail and he was sitting beside Lucas in a second, but his tail was hanging over the ledge, ready for quick retreat. They both stared ahead at the beach, Lucas doing his best not to gaze at his friends fin. He didn't want to scare him anymore. Tony sighed beside him.
"It's okay Luke. You can look, I don't mind." Carefully, shyly Lucas looked over at him, first at his hair, matted to his head in such unnatural colours again, but it seemed so right on Tony. Then his eyes wandered down and stopped at the gills, noticing their slow, deliberate breathing pace. Tony was trying to control his nerves. Then he looked at the fin, really looked at it for the first time.
It looked almost delicate, like a fish, but Lucas knew for a fact that it was as tough as a sharks hide. There was a very fine outline of scales, translucent and sliding over top of the blue flesh. It looked silky to the touch, and it glimmered from the water sliding past it.
"Does it hurt? Having legs I mean." Tony chuckled. It defiantly seemed to be the day for personal questions.
"Not when I have them. It's just as natural as the fin. I'm only half fish you know."
"So changing hurts?" Tony didn't answer, instead he asked a question of his own.
"How'd you know? Nobody's supposed to know. I'm very careful with my secrets Lucas."
"I know. I was researching shark hunting and came across a classified file. I managed to open it. It was you, when those fishers grabbed you in their nets and dumped you into the tank." Tony sat rock still as he listened. Finally sighing.
"I suppose it was bound to be discovered sooner or later."
"I looked up the UEO files as well." Lucas said, almost in a whisper. He felt Tony's eyes snap over to him and cringed under their laser gaze.
"How much do you know?"
"All of it." Tony cursed and looked away.
"I'm sorry." Lucas's voice was so soft.
"It's not your fault, you were just curious."
"No, I'm sorry for what they did to you. They, they...were UEO scientists and officers! What they did goes against all our ethics, all our purposes! It was wrong!"
"Lucas." Tony warned him, the plea to stop talking clear.
"Sorry."
"Who else knows?" Lucas looked nervously into his lap, studying his hands. "Lucas?"
"I'm sorry. I sent the files to Bridger and Smith just before we left." Tony shifted and Lucas watched in fascination as his tails muscle rippled lightly. If he looked carefully he could actually see the form of the muscle, it wasn't simply formless like a fish. He figured that must have something to do with his ability to switch between legs and fin. His thought was broken as Tony spoke quietly.
"What are you going to do now?" Lucas looked at him shocked.
"What do you mean by that?" He demanded. Tony's glittering eyes turned to stare back. They were unnerving, being such amazing colours.
"Exactly what I asked."
"Tony! I'm not going to do anything! As far as I'm concerned your still just Tony Piccolo...well, now I have some more things to tease you with but I don't plan on treating you any differently." Tony shook his head sadly.
"You won't be able to help it Luke."
"Look, I'm not going to deny that things are different, but that's only because I know now. You knew before and nothing was wrong..."
"But that's exactly..."
"It doesn't matter to me Tony! Your still my friend. Possibly my best friend. Your not going to stop being a pain in the ass loud mouth just because I know your little secret." Tony raised his eyebrows at the outburst. "Okay maybe it's more than a little secret, but...but now you can talk to me about it when you feel the need. You don't always have to hide!" Tony looked away sadly, his shoulders slouching, and Lucas frowned. "But you don't plan on coming back to the ship do you?" he was met with silence and for the first time started to fear that that was a serious possibility.
"Tony you have to come back! The Captain and Wendy, they're not bad people, they won't do anything until they've spoken with you about it and even then I don't think they'd force you to stay if you didn't want to!"
"You don't think they'd turn me back over to the authorities?" At that Lucas blanched. The authorities? Was Tony saying he escaped instead of being let go?
"No, they wouldn't. I think they'd protect you from them. We have some pretty serious evidence of illegal experimentation." Tony smirked sadly. "Sorry, but it's the facts, if it was brought out into the open than it could ruin them."
"It's not going to be brought out into the open Lucas."
"If it could help..."
"No. Lucas, I don't know of anyone else like me, and I've been around a while searching. As far as I've been told my race started dying hundreds of years ago, and I'm the last. I am not going to allow everyone to suddenly know of my existence. They will never leave me alone."
"There must be more of your people..."
"I honestly don't think there are. In all truth I've never found evidence of any of them from the past, I wouldn't be surprised if I was dumped here from some alien ship."
"Whoa, hold on there. Don't you think that's a bit extreme? Aliens?" Piccolo looked at him with eyes so certain and...filled with wisdom? Lucas found himself unable to even want to rebuff the theory. "Okay, so you're my alien merman friend. No big deal." Finally a laugh broke out of his friend, easing the tension, Tony splashed some water at Lucas, contemplating throwing him off the ledge.
"SO how'd you get aboard SeaQuest if you were their prisoner?" Lucas asked and Tony smiled deviously.
"Lets just say I gave myself a public profile and identity, which I'd never had before. Now that I exist as a Seaman on SeaQuest they can't do anything unless they risk our crew finding out." Lucas laughed, but jumped a moment later as Piccolo threw himself back into the water, coming to the surface with a head of brown hair. From above Lucas could see the shadow of his powerful tail keeping him afloat with ease.
"Tony, what..."
"Hey guys!" Ortize called and broke through the trees with Ford right behind him, sleepy eyed and grinning.
"Hey, little early to be up isn't it?" Piccolo called, his voice completely normal and full of humour. Lucas wondered how many times they'd all been blindsided by the act.
"We got your note and decided that it wasn't fair for just you guys to enjoy the swim. Man, it's beautiful here!" Ford called and began stripping to his suite. The air was still hot at this time in the morning and a swim would do wonders for their sleep.
"I should warn you guys that I wasn't expecting anyone else up here, so I ain't exactly covered if you know what I mean." Lucas began to worry that his friends would come out and see Tony's tail.
"We figured as much." Ortize called. "We're all guys, you don't have nothing we haven't seen before." He joked and they began wading into the water. Lucas silently contradicted their last comment as he watched to see how Tony would react. The man smiled and suddenly disappeared into the waters darker depths. In daylight they could no doubt see clearly to the bottom of this abode, but now it thankfully hidden.
"Hey, he better not try anything." Ford grumbled good naturedly as he threw himself into the water and began swimming over to Lucas and the rocks, Ortize following suite. Tony still hadn't come back to the surface as they swam beneath the waters small fall.
"This is fresh water." Ford stated pointlessly as he licked his lips.
"That intellect proves without a doubt why you became the Commander." Lucas joked and quickly pulled his legs onto the rock ledge as Ford tried to grab them. Suddenly the commander disappeared under the surface with a yelp and came sputtering out and spinning to glare at Piccolo who was now protected by Ortizes body.
"I'm thinking the aqua tunnels need cleaning, and who better to do it than the man who won't waste our air tanks." He plotted aloud and Tony grinned.
"It was worth it though." He laughed and raced back under the surface as Ford tried to move around Ortize and grab him.
"I hate that" Ford grumbled, when Ortize laughed he dunked him instead and grinned up at Lucas, who had been relieved to see two legs instead of the fin when Tony had re-emerged. They stayed there for about half an hour messing around and then headed back to sleep some more.
They rested peacefully until the sun woke them, except for Tony. He lay there awake all night, worry knotting his stomach and almost making him sick. He loved his life on SeaQuest and to be frank it was ideal for him. Constantly travelling all over the oceans he could keep patrol on the creatures much better than he ever could swimming the distances himself. He knew he'd go back to the old way eventually, SeaQuest wouldn't be around forever and while Tony wasn't sure exactly how long he could live, forever seemed a possibility.
His mind wandered over the last two hundred years. He'd lived in the ocean for most of that time, merging occasionally with the human society to learn how they lived. Speaking with them had never been a problem, he was aware that he had an ability to communicate with pretty much anything, but it was strongest with creatures associated with the water. It took slightly longer to get the hang of understanding people, but it was basically the same thing.
The last fifty years he'd been coming to the surface a lot. These people and their cities were so fascinating and, quite frankly, they were fun. He was lucky to live the best of both worlds, he'd grown to appreciate everything. If he left SeaQuest he'd have to lay low for a while, until they forgot about him. He worried about all this until everyone started waking up and he headed over to start the fire. The day went off without a hitch. He found himself joking a lot easier with Lucas, amazed to find that the kid had been right; having a friend who knew, someone he wasn't always trying to hide from, made him relax more than he normally would. He found himself dropping some defences.
When the afternoon came around he headed back out to the ocean, his real home. Breathing the fresh water through his body, allowing the transformation to take place, he cut through the depths like a torpedo. His eyes easily adjusted to see through the water and he was quickly approaching the coral reefs. Yesterday he'd found a rift in the oceans floor that was hidden from ships sensors due to the massive coral walls and he figured he might as well check it out.
He slowed down and glided in the water, running his hands gently over the coral and other seaweeds, memorizing their unique patterns. In places the eels would emerge from their holes and greet him, sliding smoothly around his arms and torso, tickling him. Hundreds of fish and even some sea snakes would pause and acknowledge him, or swim with him before dispersing. His world, his creatures, he loved this. Looking up to the surface, the light shining through clearly fifteen meters above, he saw the same pod of dolphins from the day before. Grinning to himself he swam up in spirals until he was with them, matching their pace. Jumping out of the water and cutting back into it, they sang and what the hell, he joined in. It was a nice change in pace to not be told to shut-up, than again, seeing as pretty much every creature in the ocean knew about him as their protector, or prince as Darwin called him, they wouldn't want to insult him. Ah, it was nice to have some respect. He leapt out of the water again, feeling the hot air brush his skin briefly before the water engulfed him again. He smiled and stopped, looking towards the island, almost a dot in the distance. He ducked back under the water, and headed down to the rift.
He noted several dolphins and other creatures swimming close by, keeping their protective eyes on him. The water became darker but he still had no difficulty navigating the sharp cliffs and he sunk deeper into the rift the water cooling slightly in the shadows.
The ravine was deep, there were places along the top of the edges that moved in tightly, almost completely blocking out the light, and in other places they split to thirty meters apart. There were patches of plant life and the occasional night dwelling creature in the dark depths but other than that it seemed fairly barren. There was something odd about it though. He didn't know what it was exactly, but there was something out of place in the depths, and he found himself slightly uneasy. He should probably start heading back to the beach soon, but he wanted to check around the next corner first. Rounding it quickly he stopped in the middle of a clearing. Ahead of him the ravine came to a solid rock wall, but built into its vertical surface was some kind of structure. Some kind of secret base?
Tony quickly dropped to the ravines floor, the disturbed mud settled back down around him and tickled his flesh. Looking up he saw the distant light blue of the surface, a good five hundred meters at least above him. What the hell was a base doing all the way down here? They usually stayed closer to the surface for safety reasons, unless they didn't want to be found...He looked carefully at the hidden structure.
He couldn't tell how large it was, it seemed to mostly be carved into the rock, there was a shuttle hatch protruding, and some other door below it. He couldn't see it all that well though, it was dark and he was too far away. Should he go closer and investigate? Probably not. Would he? Of course, this place could be doing something illegal, or something. Why the hell else would it be hidden so well? Tony pushed off the firm ocean floor and slowly approached the building, was anyone even there? As he got closer he could see more of a metallic surface, and...windows? Wait a second, he went a little closer and then froze. It was a large window, and it looked like there were several people standing there, looking out...at him. Ah crap.
A light suddenly flicked on, illuminating the water, and him. Double crap. Blinded by the light he decided it was defiantly time to go and turned around to quickly disappear, when he heard, or more so felt the vibrations of the shuttle doors opening. A slight humming began to reverberate through the water, and then got louder, Tony sped up, fear beginning to settle in his limbs. There were two water craft leaving that complex, and he had no doubt that they had seen him, and therefore they were probably out to investigate.
He gave up escaping through the long passage of the ravine and began heading upwards. Hopefully he could hide in the coral, or loose them in more open water where he could go faster, he'd never raced a shuttle before though, and he was pretty sure their mechanized engine was faster than his own power. He swam up as fast as he could, seeing the surface getting closer, little dots now moving about far above him. They were gaining on him, he could feel the water's slight tremors increasing. He tried to swim faster, the rock walls streaming past in a blur, their vegetation becoming thicker the closer to the surface he got, but he didn't notice this. They, whoever these people were, were going to get him. And just as he thought that his frantic escape was slammed to a halt as a net wrapped tightly around him. He couldn't move, and for a moment he was taken back to a time in the past, with the shark killers pulling him out of the water, chaining him in that tank, turning him over to science...he panicked.
"nooooooooo!" He screamed through the water, its pitch would make a whale jealous as it travelled in waves through the water, and then he saw an eel emerge from a crack in the wall ten meters to his left. Unable to swim Tony began to sink back down slowly, he called out to the eel for help and the creature swam away quickly. The shuttles circled him a moment before two beings in swimming gear emerged from the bottom of one and approached his sinking form. He squirmed, and thrashed when their hands grabbed the netting and began to drag him back to the shuttle. He could tell they were having a hard time and he increased his efforts, even after they'd pulled him roughly through the metal hatch and closed it.
He looked around the small metal chamber they were in and twisted again until they stood on the nets, pinning him to the floor. The water began sucking down through the grating he was resting on and he looked up as his captors upper bodies slowly began to blur where they were no longer surrounded by water. He heard their excited mutterings and breathed deeply to calm himself. He had to remain calm, he had to remain calm and remain on top of the situation. The water stopped draining just as it reached his shoulder, he could feel the cold air on his shoulder. The mens voices clearer now, but he still couldn't understand them. Screw being calm! He was not going to lie here and wait for them to decide what to do.
Lurching his body upright Tony quickly drained his lungs and breathed in a gulp of the air. It was metallic and almost stale tasting. On of the men who had been standing on the net fell with a yell into the water and stood up quickly, backing away slightly. Tony's face was pressed down by the net but he could see them fairly well and he glared with all he had.
"What the hell do you think you're doing! Do I look like the type of person you want to kidnap! No! With orders of the UEO you will release me or I swear that I'll." One of the men laughed roughly, shocking Tony into momentary silence. He could feel his anger growing, his face was no doubt turning red and this ass was laughing at him. Just wait until he was free...
"UEO? I should have known they'd create something like you. Always messing around with their experiments" he spat. "What were you doing down here? Huh? I doubt they'd let you far out of their sight if you mattered to them fish man, so shut up." The man glared right back, a dangerous glint in his eye. Tony sat up straighter, his entangled fin swishing slightly in the water.
"If I were you, human, I would let me go now. I am not the type of house guest you want." Tony glared back in defiance, but before a reply could be made the hatch above them opened.
"See you later." The man laughed and climbed out of the small chamber, the other one following and closing the door behind him. A moment later the lights shut off and Tony leaned against the metal wall, smacking his head against it several times, before groaning. This really, really sucked.
Rating: pg? -let me know if it needs a higher rating
Title: Shark Hunters
WARNING/Authors notes: I have not beta'd this! And it is a story in progress! If you think the writing is atrociously horrid then let me know and I'll try to get around to fixing it when summer rolls around ;) Lets say I haven't found the time to finish it yet (though I will in a few weeks) and I got sick of it just sitting around. Feedback is welcome, I need to know if I should bother finishing this.
::""::
He struggled, tangled helplessly in the nets. His powerful silver-blue fin flopping uselessly in the air as he was pulled upwards, closer to the deck, closer to the humans. His struggle was useless, he couldn't reach his knife to defend himself, they had him pinned to the deck now and were standing at a distance, staring. Their cold eyes mercilessly staring at his body in amazement; they hit him with a pole as he squirmed, poked him in the ribs to shut him up. 'Tie it in a tank' one man ordered, a gleam in his evil eyes as he reached down and ran a calloused hand roughly up his fin in sick wonder. He looked directly into the scared eyes and growled. 'you're mine!'
His eyes snapped open in fear but his breathing remained even. He blinked the sleep out of them and rolled over into a more comfortable position. He'd had these nightmares for years now, they didn't matter to him anymore, that part of his life no longer existed. He wasn't their prisoner anymore. The mantra quickly calmed him and he fell back to sleep.
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"What are you up to?" Dr. Wendy Smith asked as she leaned over Lucas's shoulder to gaze at the computer's screen. He looked up at her quickly, flashing a charming grin before gazing intently back at the screen.
"Not much. There's been reports of shark hunting in the area so the Captain asked if I'd look for more information."
"Shark hunting? Wasn't that business wiped out permanently fourteen years ago?"
"Yeah it was. That's why we're interested in the reports. Chances are that the sharks simply migrated and can't be accounted for. It's not to serious at the moment since the shark population has increased 65% and the threat of extinction has been wiped clean but it doesn't hurt to check up on it." He concluded, clicking on a video file. Rolling footage of a shark hunt presented itself as men and women hauled nets filled with the grey animals flopping desperately to get free. They tore the helpless creatures from the ropes and brutally sliced off all their fins before tossing the animals back into the water.
"That's awful." Wendy sighed and straightened up watching the screen sadly. Lucas went to search other files a moment until he realized she was still standing by him.
"Is there something wrong Dr. Smith?"
"No, actually I was wondering why you were doing this research here in the moon pool bay as opposed to in your room."
"Oh. It's to quite in there and the lighting was beginning to bother me." He turned back to the screen and frowned, trying to access other links.
"Is that all that's bothering you?" He sighed and a small smile graced his lips. There was no point in skipping the issue with her, seeing as she could read his mind if she wanted to. Sometimes, like now, he found that she was extremely perceptive.
"No. It's Tony." Lucas twisted in his seat to face her, wringing his hands nervously in front of him. "Sometimes he's just too much for me, you know?" Wendy nodded to let him explain. "I'm always trying to get work done and all he does is joke around and bother me. It's annoying."
"Have you told him this?" She asked gently.
"Sort of." He shrugged
"In other words only when you yell at him to leave you alone..."
"I don't yell...I just inform him loudly." She raised her eyebrows. "Okay okay, I yell. I can't help it. It's like he doesn't have any cares. He just does what he wants except when he's on duty."
"Sometimes it's difficult living with a person who has so much wound up energy. He tends to vent to whomever is in listening distance, and since you guys are together so often it's natural for him to always talk to you."
"Yeah that's what I figure, put that way though I think his energy levels are way above normal. He can't sit still."
"Talk to him Lucas. He's a great listener once you give him the chance, and he's a lot more perceptive than people give him credit for. He'll understand." Lucas nodded and smiled, feeling a little better now that he'd voiced his opinion. He liked having the man for a roommate, he kept things interesting, but sometimes it just got to him and he needed to vent. He turned back to his screen and something caught his eye. He tried to access the almost hidden file and became even more interested when nothing happened. It must be some sort of classified file that was misplaced in the system.
"That's odd." He murmured to himself.
"What is?" Wendy asked.
"This file. I almost missed it, it was hidden so well. I can't access it so I'm going to have to dig deeper."
"How long will it take? It's nothing illegal is it?"
"It doesn't say I 'can't' access it, it's just not letting me at the moment. That makes it perfectly legitimate." He grinned. "It shouldn't take more than half an hour, tops."
Okay, as long as your out of here in one hour. We've got an inspection today."
"Right, one hour and I ma out of your hair." He replied as his focus was quickly being dominated by the hidden file. Wendy chuckled, pat him on the shoulder and left to finish her duties.
Half an hour later Lucas gave a silent whoop of victory as he successfully accessed the file. It had been tougher than he'd thought, but nothing was to tough for Lucas the great! He allowed himself a moment to crack his knuckles before reaching to watch the vid. (hoping it was nothing to classified, he wasn't sure he wanted that kind of trouble today)
At first he was confused. It looked like a normal shark hunt, the nets being raised with a helpless creature in it. Then his eyes widened in amazement at what he was seeing. He sat, riveted to the screen, shock slowly sinking in as he realized exactly what was going on. Then horror and disbelief marred his features. This wasn't possible! It was absurd! But as he thought about it, he realized that just maybe it was possible. Quickly he transferred the file to his alcove and deleted all traces of tampering from the computer he was working at. He stood abruptly and left, not even thinking of stopping to say goodbye to Wendy. He had one hell of a lot more research to do before he could even think of producing this evidence to anyone, and tight knots began to form in his stomach. He couldn't classify his emotions, they were too wild at the moment. Finally reaching his room, relieved beyond belief that Tony wasn't there he sat down and began calling up all his hacking skills. He would get to the bottom of this.
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"This is great! I'll bring the marshmallows!" Tony exclaimed as he, Miguel and Tim walked down the corridor towards their quarters.
"It isn't a camping trip Tony." Tim chided. "We are supposed to be examining the vegetation for possible medicinal value."
"Oh please! I may not be the genius on the ship but I know as well as you that all those green plants have been discovered and researched elsewhere. This is a vacation buddy! I plan to make the most of it!" Bridger had decided that certain officers required a little rest and recovery time after the last shore leave they'd attempted. While most of the crew had been perfectly happy and enjoying their time off, certain members of the crew (Tony, Tim and Miguel included) had been frantically trying to ensure that threats aimed towards the ship had been removed. It hadn't been an easy two days and they'd nearly lost the ship but in the end everyone was able to return to their stations, only then finding out what threat they could have been under.
So now the UEO had granted those few members unofficial leave on an uninhabited island while the SeaQuest researched a near by fissure. They were just trying to make it look like research to stop complaints from other ships and certain crewmembers.
"I'll bring the gram crackers." Miguel offered.
"Then that leaves me to the chocolate." O'Neil gave in and Piccolo's grin lit up twice as large and he slapped them lightly on the back before he turned to head to his room to pack. "That's the spirit!" he called and disappeared. The two men chuckled lightly before heading off to their own rooms. They would be joining the other members of this little 'mission' in two hours. They had packing to do.
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Tony entered his room whistling loudly. He couldn't believe his luck! This trip was what he needed, he had to get off the ship and get some fresh air. Mostly he needed a place to expend some of his ever-gathering energy. Restlessness had been a part of him since he could remember but being cooped on a ship all the time, it was too much. He hardly ever went out to swim in the ocean because of the ships constant movement, and in the aqua tunnels he felt like an animal at the zoo, being watched by everyone he passed. He really didn't like that.
Lucas had his head stuck in his closet as he searched for the right type of clothing for their little expedition. Piccolo grinned at the neat piles already laid out beside the kids bag, on Tony's bed. He contemplated on sitting on them, but decided he'd been bugging the kid too much lately. There was only so much humour that a man could handle.
"Are you done yet?" He asked, sticking his head beside Lucas's and looking around the tiny closet space. It was amazing how much clothing the kid could cram into such a tiny space.
"Almost." Came the occupied reply.
"Good, than you can help me."
"Right." Lucas mocked good naturedly, walking over to their beds to begin placing his things into the bag. Tony shrugged and opened his own locker. He looked carefully around a moment, quickly decided exactly what he needed and began grabbing and tossing the items over to the bed.
"Hey!" Lucas complained as the older mans shirts and shorts began falling on top of his neat piles.
"My bed Lucas. Unless you want to give me the top bunk?" Hopeful eyes darted around the closets metal door and Lucas rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I didn't think so." Tony went back to tossing his stuff on his bed. A minute later he had everything he needed.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Just know exactly what you need in a matter of seconds? Every trip you go on you have exactly what you need and you never even think about it, you just toss it into a bag and go."
"Lucas, it's not that I don't think about it, it's just that I always know exactly what to take...that and I don't own enough clothing to start my own store makes it easier to choose."
"Ha ha. I don't own that much." Tony didn't say anything, instead he tossed a box into his bag and began shoving his clothes haphazardly on top of it. A moment later he looked up to find Lucas staring at him, deep in thought.
"What? Is there something on my face?" He brushed his nose in an attempt to wipe away the invisible particle. He kept his eyes humorous, but he was really starting to wonder about the kid. A couple days ago the kid had been mucking about on his computer like it was the end of the world and ever since then Tony had caught him staring at him. Other than that things were normal between them, which is why he didn't say anything.
"No, sorry. I was just lost in thought."
"You want to tell me about it?" Tony asked in one of his gentlest manners. He was starting to worry about the kid and wanted to help if he could.
"No, thanks though." Lucas quickly turned back to his packing and Tony shrugged. If the kid didn't want to confide in him he couldn't force it.
"Sure. I'm gonna go collect the swimming gear. Want me to grab your fins?" Lucas's head snapped up with an unreadable look before he shook his head like he was an idiot and shrugged.
"Sure. Thanks."
"No problem." Tony said slowly and then started heading towards the door.
"hey Tony?"
"Yeah?" He stopped and turned to look at his younger roommate who was opening and closing his mouth, trying to say something and stopping. "Is there something wrong Lucas?"
"No, no. Sorry. I'm just nervous about the trip."
"Nervous? Don't worry, you're gonna be with me! What could possibly go wrong?"
"Need I say more?"
"Shad up." Tony grinned and left the room. Once he was in the corridor his carefree grin slipped into a frown. Something was definitely bothering Lucas. Maybe he'd drill the kid for information on their vacation, for now he wanted to go visit Darwin and say goodbye to Dagwood.
Back in their room Lucas roughly finished packing, all his carefully folded clothes jammed messily into his bag. When the bed was clear he sighed and sat down rubbing his hands across his face. He'd almost asked Tony. What an idiot! He couldn't just blurt out what he'd seen in the files and ask what it was. How the hell could Tony answer anyway? Lucas was pretty sure what he had seen wasn't common knowledge.
He got up and began pacing his room. What to do? He couldn't keep it to himself any longer, he had to pass on the information he'd found. He just hoped it wasn't something that would seriously do damage, then again he wasn't sure if much more damage could be done. Those classified video files were pretty detailed...and painful as hell to watch. That's it! He'd had enough time to think, he needed to act.
He threw himself into his desks chair and switched on his terminal. Quickly he wrote small notes to Captain Bridger and Dr. Smith. They'd know what to do. Attaching the files that had bothered him for the last few days he sent them to the two chosen people. He hoped this was for the better.
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"Darwin?" Piccolo called through the vocorder, running a hand through his light brown hair, watching the moon pool.
"Hey fish, get over here!" He called again playfully. A moment later the water splashed and the dolphins grey head emerged with an indignant sqwak.
"Darwin not a fish!"
"Yeah yeah." Tony waved off the complaint and dunked the dolphin back under the water. Darwin came up a moment later and splashed him.
"Hey!"
"You like water more! Come swim! Get wet!" The dolphin called and Tony shook his head as he dried his face with his seaman issued blue shirt.
"Can't Darwin. You know I'm heading off ship for a while."
"Darwin knows. Darwin watch crew for you, tell you if trouble comes." The clicks and whistles were more subdued as the animal realized Piccolo wasn't going to play.
"Thanks fish." Tony patted his wet head affectionately, ignoring the nagging feeling of wanting to swim. He could do that later. "I'll see you when I get back." He turned to leave, pretending not to notice the splash that suddenly soaked the back of his shirt.
"Prince come home soon." Darwin called and Tony turned sharply, his brown eyes gazing at the dolphin.
"I'm no prince Darwin. Remember?" the dolphin ducked his head in admission.
"Darwin sorry. Tony come home soon. Tony have nice trip. Tony swim!" The man chuckled to himself and nodded to his friend.
"Sure thing Darwin." And he left, waving a good bye to Wendy who was checking on some experiment across the pool. "See you later alligate...um, Dr. Smith." He called and she waved, a brief smile lighting her lips. Tony grabbed the swimming gear out of a large storage closet and headed off to look for Dagwood. They'd be leaving soon and he wanted to make sure he saw the big guy before that time came.
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Ford carefully placed his bags along side the tree line with everyone else's belongings and headed back to the transport to help unload the rest of the equipment. Tony and Ortize were walking past him carrying large yellow waterproof boxes, talking animatedly to each other. It wasn't difficult to read the excitement in everything they did. It was going to be a fun few days.
Entering the shuttle he saw there was nothing left to take out and he gave the pilot the go ahead to get back to the ship, thanking him for the escort. The pilot saluted and soon he, Lucas, O'Neil, Ortize, Piccolo and Brody were standing on the deserted beach by their belongings in silence. For a few minuets they just breathed in the warm air, felt their muscles relaxing under the hot sun and the sand between their feet. A moment later the tranquil atmosphere was broken as Tony began stripping down beside them, pulling off his pants to reveal his bathing suite. Ford watched him amused.
"You wore your swim suite?" Tim asked as they watched him strip to the shorts and a tank-top.
"A man's gotta be prepared guys! Come on! We're on vacation!" Tony yelled and with a sudden movement he sprinted towards the ocean, running into it's warm water as far as he could before diving into the small waves. He yelled out in delight and disappeared under the water only to reappear a moment later. The men stood on the beach and watched him dive in and out of the waves. They looked at each other.
"We should unpack." Ford said.
"That would be a good idea." Brody backed him up. They turned to watch Piccolo again.
"Oh Forget that!" Lucas yelled and dove towards the pile of belongings, searching for his bag. The rest of the men were quick to follow and soon they were racing to the water, sand flying around their feet. For the next two hours they thoroughly enjoyed the carefree life, until it was time for lunch. One by one the drug themselves out of the water to start setting up their beach camp. Tony was the last one out, happily shaking the water out of his hair, pulling at the severely soaked white tank top. Ford watched him walk towards the camp, for a moment the mans hair looked silver as the sunlight bounced off the water.
"What can I do?" He asked as they were setting up the dinner and tents.
"Could you strike up the food tent?" Ford asked as he set about trying to start the fire.
"Sure." He bounced off, still grinning and with one hell of a lot of energy after such a long swim. How does he pull it off Ford wondered as he looked over to Ortize and Brody, happily collapsed under the shade of a palm tree. He looked over at Lucas and Tim as they set up the sleeping tents and frowned for a moment at the serious gaze Lucas was aiming at Tony. A moment later the kid was back to his job, joking with Tim as the tall man tried to figure out where the two polls connected. Shrugging Ford went back to the fire, determined to get it started with just the lighter he'd brought.
Piccolo suddenly plopped himself on a log beside Ford and grinned.
"This is the life eh? No worry's, no people bothering you to work...you gonna get that fire built any time soon? I'm getting hungry." Ford threw him a mock glare and turned back to the fire, glancing at the fully set up kitchen tent off to their right. The man was a fast worker when he was hungry. The fire caught and slowly built into a larger pile of licking flames.
"Happy?"
"No, I'm hungry." Tony grinned and went to retrieve the food as the rest of them flocked towards the blaze. Soon they were all cooking hotdogs and talking. Tony looked around happily noticing that each man looked relaxed, even Ford, which was saying something. When they were finished eating and cleaned up Tony stood.
"I'm gonna go take a walk, explore the woods a little. Anyone up for it?" A chorus of no's and one yes answered him and soon he and Tim were traipsing through the woods. They'd gotten about ten minutes into it when Tony stopped.
"What is it?" Tim asked, glancing around.
"I think I hear water. It's this way." Tony headed off to their left and then a bit deeper into the woods. Tim strained to hear and finally did, as they emerged into a small clearing and gazed out onto a lagoon. They both stared in awe. It wasn't huge, the other bank was only about twenty meters away. They stood on a small beach, smooth rocks to both their sides. Across the river the large rocks piled up high and were draped with foliage, a very light but steady flow of water flowed over a small section into the almost still and crystal clear pool. It dropped off fairly quickly and the sand soon turned to colourful vegetation tickling the waters base. Tim noticed a couple small blue fish swimming close to the surface.
"Wow." He said, and Tony quietly nodded, gazing at everything he could. It was a breathtaking sight. "We have to bring the guys here."
"Yeah." Tony agreed and stepped to the water's edge, dipping his hand in. "It's not to cold." He announced and brought his wet fingers to his lips, tasting the water. A smile lit his features. "It's also salt water." For a moment Tim was confused as to why that was a good thing, then he noticed Tony pull at his almost dry tank-top and it made sense. Tony would be able to breath in this water, which meant he could explore its depths. "Let's get back before they worry." The man stood up and Tim followed him, taking one last look at the beautiful scenery. A couple of minuets later he noticed Tony pull at his shirt again.
"Why don't you just take it off?" He asked and Tony looked at him confused. "Your shirt?" He pointed at the clingy material. "You look uncomfortable."
"Nah, I'm fine. It just hinders the breathing sometimes, you know, when it clings."
"So just take it off." The answer seemed simple to Tim, but Tony just smiled, shook his head negatively and kept walking. Tim didn't understand what the big deal was, none of them were wearing shirts, only Tony. And if he was worried about them seeing his gills he didn't need to be. It was general information to the group that he had them, and it had stopped shocking them a couple months back. But then again Tim wasn't the one with the gills so he really didn't know what to do. Maybe it was healthier to keep them protected from the atmosphere as much as possible. They were, after all, supposed to be breathing the water, not the air.
"Hey Tony?" He asked, the curiosity clear in his voice.
"Yeah?"
"Does it ever bother you to be breathing in the air constantly? I mean, I know your originally human and breath air, but now, with the gills, is it harder?" After a moment Tim was going to say he didn't have to answer when the happy voice of Piccolo carried back to him.
"Sometimes. I have to keep a balance with my body, you know? Gotta make sure I get the daily intake of salt water to function properly and all that. The more water the better, all apart of the daily diet." He threw a grin over his shoulder and Tim was silent a moment, contemplating this. He'd never actually spoken with Tony about his gills outside of small jokes. He'd never really thought much of them at all actually, seeing as they didn't interfere with his own life.
"Does that bother you?"
"Only when I don't get to swim. Some of the longer shifts are tuff, but after a few minuets in the water it's like a total energizer."
"Is the captain aware of this? He could give you longer breaks or something for a quick dip with Darwin."
"Nah, I don't fancy favouritism Tim, you know? Besides, I'm always full of energy, calming down once or twice a week is probably better for the sake of the crew." The shorter man joked and pushed some foliage out of the way. It swung back and smacked Tim in the chest.
"Hey!"
"Sorry." Tony apologized, clearly not feeling bad for the act. A moment later they emerged into the sunlit beach and walked a short way back to their campsite. The other four had set up a makeshift volley ball court and were currently diving around in the sand, pausing to give the occasional high five to their partner.
"Hey! You guys playing or what?" Brody called over to them. Tony noticed O'Neil frown slightly. He probably wanted to go read in the shade or something, and actually relax.
"No, I'm going to head out to the reef for a bit. Probably won't be back for about three hours."
"Tony, that reef is a good two miles away." Ford reminded him and Tony rolled his eyes.
"Commander, I ain't gonna drown or nothin'. I'm just gonna relax a bit while I don't have to worry about any of you yaps getting dragged under the water."
"How nice, a self-proclaimed life-guard." Brody mocked as he distractedly tried to wipe some sand out of his eye.
"Hey, as the best swimmer of the group I take it as my right." Tony grinned and headed back to the tents for a minute. A moment later he went tearing by them, yelling a 'be good' warning over his shoulder as he dove into the waves and disappeared. They stood and watched for a minute.
"Wish I could just go for a swim under water for hours on end." Miguel commented.
"Why?" Lucas demanded. "I can't be all great, I mean I'm sure there's probably tonnes of reasons that he would wish he didn't have gills."
"I'm just saying it would be nice Lucas. Feeling a little protective there? Is there something you know that you're not telling us?" Miguel teased.
"He didn't have his tank-top on." O'Neil contemplated out loud and then blushed as they raised their eyebrows. He hurried to explain. "We were talking earlier and I asked why he always wore it when he swam. Didn't answer me though. I figure he's just self-conscious or something, not that he has anything to be self-conscious about. We all know he has gills, obviously."
"Does he always swim with a dagger?" Ford broke into the conversation.
"Yep. Says he's afraid some nasty creature will attack him and he might need it." They nodded and gazed off at the water a moment.
"Oh! You guys should have seen this lagoon we found." O'Neil began and they turned to listen. Occasionally Lucas would gaze out at the ocean in thought.
Two hours later they were sitting around the fire, watching the sun beginning to set in the unbelievably far distance. Lucas had been relatively quite the entire day and the fact had not been lost on any of the men. He'd figured it would only be a matter of time before someone approached him about it, and inwardly sighed when he heard Brody nervously clear his throat and then softly call his name.
"Yeah?" Lucas replied as casually as he could.
"What's up? You seem kinda distant, like your worried or something."
"I'm fine. Great. Couldn't be better." He rushed and felt his cheeks heat up at the raised eyebrows. Quietly he gave in and began a more serious explanation. "Have you ever felt like you knew somebody and then one day your entire opinion of them is crushed into something else?" They all started staring into the flames, trying to think of something like that. Each man found a relationship example but decided that that was not the type of opinion Lucas was asking about. It seemed like something more, and the way the kids shoulders were slumped increased the desire to help him out. He was like their little brother and friend.
"Are you talking about someone we know?" Miguel asked
"no. well, maybe."
"What's wrong with Tony?" Tim asked and Lucas's head snapped up in surprise.
"Who said it was Tony?" He demanded defensively.
"Come on Lucas. We've seen you watching him carefully lately, like your trying to analyze him or something. We aren't blind." Ford admonished, then he reached over and grabbed a piece of wood to toss onto the fire. Lucas caved in defeat, finally having someone to talk to, but he didn't want to say too much. He'd already done enough sending those files to Bridger and Wendy.
"I just thought he was this completely happy go lucky guy, and now I'm not so sure."
"You think he's hiding something?"
"I know he's hiding something." Lucas affirmed and wrung his hands together nervously. "I just don't know what to do with the knowledge."
"Tell him. Tony's never seemed to lie to us about stuff, and he's always answered questions..."
"How many personal questions have you ever asked him?" Lucas asked quietly, looking carefully at each member of the group. "How much do you really know about him? I mean. I'm his roommate. We talk a lot, he bugs the hell out of me, I know he's gone to prison, he has parents somewhere, and he has trouble reading because his eyes are adapted to water and the words get jumbled around for him but that's pretty much it."
"His taste in bad music." Tim chimed in making a face.
"and clothes." Ford grumbled.
"I like some of those clothes!" Miguel defended the missing man's style and they laughed, but stopped when Lucas didn't join in.
"Come on Lucas. It isn't that bad, he just doesn't talk. We haven't asked him the right questions, that's all."
"I don't think it is." The teenager challenged and they sighed.
"Look, how about we try to learn more about him then. We've got two more nights here after today. Plenty of time to get to know the joker." Ford tried to ease Lucas's worries. Lucas leaned back, a doubtful expression on his face.
"Whatever."
"If you told us why you've suddenly become so worried we'd understand better." Tim said carefully.
"No, I won't disrespect his privacy."
"Here he comes." Brody warned and they all turned to watch the man of their discussion stride powerfully out of the water, a huge smile covering his lips.
"Is his hair blue?" Ford asked as they watched him approach. Sure enough his hair looked like it was silver and blue as it was matted to his head. However a moment later they saw it change to its familiar light brown. "Must have been the light's reflection," He finished as an explanation. The man trudged up and flopped on a log beside Miguel, shaking his wet head cheerfully, fully intending to splash them all. A chorus of complaints rose up and he grinned even wider.
"I see you enjoyed your swim." Brody commented and wiped a drop of water from his forehead.
"I'd have to be dead not to! It's beautiful out there! There's a pack of dolphins off the reef, they say a storms hitting in the distance so they're staying in shore for a while." They all blanched at his comment and he immediately noticed what he'd said. "It was a joke guys. Jeeze, lighten up." They rolled their eyes and everyone fell into companionable silence, finding it slightly difficult to ignore Piccolo's panting breaths. It must have been one hell of a swim they noted.
He hadn't put a shirt on yet and they couldn't help glancing at his gills, the filaments lifting and falling with every breath. They seemed so natural on his well formed torso, in that moment it was hard to picture him without them. Suddenly he stood and went to throw a shirt on, obviously becoming self-conscious, but they all seemed to realize that him sitting there like that for so long was special. IT seemed almost like an explicit act of trust. They sat around for the rest of the night, Ford pulling out the guitar he'd brought along with him and softly playing it. Finally they fell asleep under the stars, not bothering to use the tents on such a perfect night.
Lucas and Miguel lay awake for a long time, talking in hushed tones, almost to quite to notice. The rest of the men slept soundly, Piccolo and Tim occasionally rolling over in their sleep. Miguel kept glancing over at Tony, who as closest to them, and was noticing that the mans sleep was gradually becoming more restless.
"See." Lucas says quietly. They'd been talking about a lot of things, but kept coming back to Tony. Miguel was actually starting to wonder about their always loud and happy friend. "He always gets more restless around this time. Sometimes he wakes up and leaves. Other times he just goes back to sleep."
"How do you know this?" Miguel asked and Lucas rolled his eyes.
"Miguel, I'm a teenage hacker. I am usually up all night on the computer. It's hard not to notice these things, but I don't think he knows I know."
"What do you think he dreams about?" The question was innocent enough, and Miguel was thrown off by the dark look that entered his young friends eyes.
"I can't say." He said with acid in his voice. Miguel stared at him in shock. If the kid was this angry about something Tony had said or done, than it must be one hell of a lot more serious than any of them thought. A sharp intake of breath from the man they were talking about had them closing their eyes instantaneously, feigning sleep. Quietly they listened to their friend move around silently and finally sigh. There was more shuffling and then a pen on paper. A moment later his feet shuffled by his head and he headed into the bushes. The two opened their eyes and looked at each other.
"Four out of the seven times he wakes up he leaves the room. Probably for a swim." Lucas explained. Miguel looked at the bushes and then leaned over to piccolo's sleeping bag, snatching the piece of paper he'd left.
I've gone for a walk to the Lagoon. Don't worry, I'll be back before the suns up. -Tony
"I'm gonna go after him." Lucas announced and went to get a compass from his bag and the directions he'd written down from Tim.
"I'll come too." Miguel offered, starting to crawl out of his bag. A hand on his arm stopped him and Lucas looked down, his eyes far more serious than they should have been this time of night.
"No. I need to talk with him alone. Sort some things out." Miguel nodded in understanding and lay back down. "Don't bother waiting. I doubt we'll be back until late." With that the young man disappeared into the foliage his friend had disappeared through earlier. His blonde head disappearing from the full moons light. Miguel sat back up and stared out at the ocean. He didn't understand what was going on, and Lucas was explaining things very minimally. It worried him, but he accepted that at the moment he wasn't needed. He didn't think he'd get much more rest tonight though.
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Lucas moved through the trees as quietly as he could, not wanting to disturb the tranquility that had erected itself over the tropical forest. He had to pause often to get his bearings. Hey, he was a computer genius, not a ranger. He didn't do this often. However a few minuets later he broke out of the trees onto a very small beach. He froze in shock at the serene beauty displayed. A Lagoon lit up perfectly in the full moons light, he could see right across the short distance. The light bounced off the carefully rippling water, the trees around were illuminated in a pale green that melted into black as they got denser. He stood there just gaping and trying to remember what he was seeing.
Suddenly he was shocked out of the dream and into an even crazier reality as the waters calm surface roughly broke and Tony's upper body rose above the water and sank back down until only his head was showing, the water dropping around him. Then he began moving with amazing speed to the short distance across the water. He paused a moment under the steady stream of water coming from an overhanging rock, half a meter above his head. Then finally he pulled his body out of the water and rolled onto the ledge, lazily lying on his back and staring at the stars.
Lucas stopped breathing. He stared across at his friend who was fully illuminated by the moon, the water glistening off his skin, the waters fall broken by his bodies dam. The young man was paralized, he just stood there staring. He'd known, he'd known for days know, but seeing it was something totally different, totally unbelievable. He just, he...oh god. Words couldn't describe what he felt as he gazed at his friend.
Across the water and lying in bliss in the cool stream was Tony. But a side of Tony that Lucas was sure very few had ever seen. His hair had turned a magnificent silver-blue, shimmering with the slightest movement. The outline of his gills could just be seen at this distance but it was his legs that captivated Lucas's attention; Because they weren't there. In their place was a large fin, silver-blue like his hair. It was as long as his legs, but in place of his feet were two almost translucent fins, about two and a half feet long, currently trickling over the rock ledge in the stream. It was true: Tony wasn't human. Lucas wasn't sure what he was, but a merman was the best classification he could come up with.
Finally Lucas took a few steps forward, closer to the waters edge, Tony looked over at that moment and saw him. The reaction was instantaneous as he threw himself back into the water in panic, obviously hoping Lucas hadn't seen. When he came back to the surface his hair was noticeably brown, but he made no attempt to come to the shore.
"Lucas!" He sputtered. "What the hell are you doing here?" For a moment Lucas didn't know how to respond.
"Uh, I was worried about you and wanted to make sure you were all right."
"Yeah, I'm good. You can go back, I'll be by later." He called across the water. Lucas picked up on the hidden desperation in his friend's voice. He didn't move, just kept watching Tony until he turned away in the water.
"Tony..." Lucas called out, stepping closer to the edge.
"Lucas, I...don't know...I just need a moment okay? I'll be out in a bit." He sounded defeated.
"Tony, I already knew." He tried again, and was glad to see the man stop in his swimming retreat and turn back, surprise in his features. "I think we really need to talk." Slowly he nodded and Lucas quickly stripped to his boxers and started wading into the water.
"Lucas, it might be better if you didn't come in." Tony called nervously.
"Forget it, I want to sit on those rocks, they looked comfortable." The water surrounded his body, instantly cooling it. He ducked under for a moment and came up with the salty taste on his lips. Then with strong sure strokes he swam across the water and past Tony to the rocks. Once there he looked up, contemplating how the hell to get up.
"Here." Tony's voice was suddenly beside him, startling him. "Climb up on my shoulder, like a stair or something." Lucas looked at him but couldn't catch his eyes. His hair was still brown.
"Thanks." A moment later he was on the rock, the water tickling his legs. He looked over at Tony. "You coming up?" His friend looked extremely nervous below him and Lucas felt his anger rise, but it wasn't directed at Tony.
"I don't think that's such a great idea." Lucas had never seen his friend so unsure.
"Tony." He said softly. "I won't hurt you, you don't have to hide from me." Tony finally looked into his eyes and Lucas was shocked to find them the same silver-blue as his hair and fin. "Please." He asked. Tony studied him for a moment, seriously, until he made up his mind. Reaching up to grab the ledge he gave a powerful kick with his tail and he was sitting beside Lucas in a second, but his tail was hanging over the ledge, ready for quick retreat. They both stared ahead at the beach, Lucas doing his best not to gaze at his friends fin. He didn't want to scare him anymore. Tony sighed beside him.
"It's okay Luke. You can look, I don't mind." Carefully, shyly Lucas looked over at him, first at his hair, matted to his head in such unnatural colours again, but it seemed so right on Tony. Then his eyes wandered down and stopped at the gills, noticing their slow, deliberate breathing pace. Tony was trying to control his nerves. Then he looked at the fin, really looked at it for the first time.
It looked almost delicate, like a fish, but Lucas knew for a fact that it was as tough as a sharks hide. There was a very fine outline of scales, translucent and sliding over top of the blue flesh. It looked silky to the touch, and it glimmered from the water sliding past it.
"Does it hurt? Having legs I mean." Tony chuckled. It defiantly seemed to be the day for personal questions.
"Not when I have them. It's just as natural as the fin. I'm only half fish you know."
"So changing hurts?" Tony didn't answer, instead he asked a question of his own.
"How'd you know? Nobody's supposed to know. I'm very careful with my secrets Lucas."
"I know. I was researching shark hunting and came across a classified file. I managed to open it. It was you, when those fishers grabbed you in their nets and dumped you into the tank." Tony sat rock still as he listened. Finally sighing.
"I suppose it was bound to be discovered sooner or later."
"I looked up the UEO files as well." Lucas said, almost in a whisper. He felt Tony's eyes snap over to him and cringed under their laser gaze.
"How much do you know?"
"All of it." Tony cursed and looked away.
"I'm sorry." Lucas's voice was so soft.
"It's not your fault, you were just curious."
"No, I'm sorry for what they did to you. They, they...were UEO scientists and officers! What they did goes against all our ethics, all our purposes! It was wrong!"
"Lucas." Tony warned him, the plea to stop talking clear.
"Sorry."
"Who else knows?" Lucas looked nervously into his lap, studying his hands. "Lucas?"
"I'm sorry. I sent the files to Bridger and Smith just before we left." Tony shifted and Lucas watched in fascination as his tails muscle rippled lightly. If he looked carefully he could actually see the form of the muscle, it wasn't simply formless like a fish. He figured that must have something to do with his ability to switch between legs and fin. His thought was broken as Tony spoke quietly.
"What are you going to do now?" Lucas looked at him shocked.
"What do you mean by that?" He demanded. Tony's glittering eyes turned to stare back. They were unnerving, being such amazing colours.
"Exactly what I asked."
"Tony! I'm not going to do anything! As far as I'm concerned your still just Tony Piccolo...well, now I have some more things to tease you with but I don't plan on treating you any differently." Tony shook his head sadly.
"You won't be able to help it Luke."
"Look, I'm not going to deny that things are different, but that's only because I know now. You knew before and nothing was wrong..."
"But that's exactly..."
"It doesn't matter to me Tony! Your still my friend. Possibly my best friend. Your not going to stop being a pain in the ass loud mouth just because I know your little secret." Tony raised his eyebrows at the outburst. "Okay maybe it's more than a little secret, but...but now you can talk to me about it when you feel the need. You don't always have to hide!" Tony looked away sadly, his shoulders slouching, and Lucas frowned. "But you don't plan on coming back to the ship do you?" he was met with silence and for the first time started to fear that that was a serious possibility.
"Tony you have to come back! The Captain and Wendy, they're not bad people, they won't do anything until they've spoken with you about it and even then I don't think they'd force you to stay if you didn't want to!"
"You don't think they'd turn me back over to the authorities?" At that Lucas blanched. The authorities? Was Tony saying he escaped instead of being let go?
"No, they wouldn't. I think they'd protect you from them. We have some pretty serious evidence of illegal experimentation." Tony smirked sadly. "Sorry, but it's the facts, if it was brought out into the open than it could ruin them."
"It's not going to be brought out into the open Lucas."
"If it could help..."
"No. Lucas, I don't know of anyone else like me, and I've been around a while searching. As far as I've been told my race started dying hundreds of years ago, and I'm the last. I am not going to allow everyone to suddenly know of my existence. They will never leave me alone."
"There must be more of your people..."
"I honestly don't think there are. In all truth I've never found evidence of any of them from the past, I wouldn't be surprised if I was dumped here from some alien ship."
"Whoa, hold on there. Don't you think that's a bit extreme? Aliens?" Piccolo looked at him with eyes so certain and...filled with wisdom? Lucas found himself unable to even want to rebuff the theory. "Okay, so you're my alien merman friend. No big deal." Finally a laugh broke out of his friend, easing the tension, Tony splashed some water at Lucas, contemplating throwing him off the ledge.
"SO how'd you get aboard SeaQuest if you were their prisoner?" Lucas asked and Tony smiled deviously.
"Lets just say I gave myself a public profile and identity, which I'd never had before. Now that I exist as a Seaman on SeaQuest they can't do anything unless they risk our crew finding out." Lucas laughed, but jumped a moment later as Piccolo threw himself back into the water, coming to the surface with a head of brown hair. From above Lucas could see the shadow of his powerful tail keeping him afloat with ease.
"Tony, what..."
"Hey guys!" Ortize called and broke through the trees with Ford right behind him, sleepy eyed and grinning.
"Hey, little early to be up isn't it?" Piccolo called, his voice completely normal and full of humour. Lucas wondered how many times they'd all been blindsided by the act.
"We got your note and decided that it wasn't fair for just you guys to enjoy the swim. Man, it's beautiful here!" Ford called and began stripping to his suite. The air was still hot at this time in the morning and a swim would do wonders for their sleep.
"I should warn you guys that I wasn't expecting anyone else up here, so I ain't exactly covered if you know what I mean." Lucas began to worry that his friends would come out and see Tony's tail.
"We figured as much." Ortize called. "We're all guys, you don't have nothing we haven't seen before." He joked and they began wading into the water. Lucas silently contradicted their last comment as he watched to see how Tony would react. The man smiled and suddenly disappeared into the waters darker depths. In daylight they could no doubt see clearly to the bottom of this abode, but now it thankfully hidden.
"Hey, he better not try anything." Ford grumbled good naturedly as he threw himself into the water and began swimming over to Lucas and the rocks, Ortize following suite. Tony still hadn't come back to the surface as they swam beneath the waters small fall.
"This is fresh water." Ford stated pointlessly as he licked his lips.
"That intellect proves without a doubt why you became the Commander." Lucas joked and quickly pulled his legs onto the rock ledge as Ford tried to grab them. Suddenly the commander disappeared under the surface with a yelp and came sputtering out and spinning to glare at Piccolo who was now protected by Ortizes body.
"I'm thinking the aqua tunnels need cleaning, and who better to do it than the man who won't waste our air tanks." He plotted aloud and Tony grinned.
"It was worth it though." He laughed and raced back under the surface as Ford tried to move around Ortize and grab him.
"I hate that" Ford grumbled, when Ortize laughed he dunked him instead and grinned up at Lucas, who had been relieved to see two legs instead of the fin when Tony had re-emerged. They stayed there for about half an hour messing around and then headed back to sleep some more.
They rested peacefully until the sun woke them, except for Tony. He lay there awake all night, worry knotting his stomach and almost making him sick. He loved his life on SeaQuest and to be frank it was ideal for him. Constantly travelling all over the oceans he could keep patrol on the creatures much better than he ever could swimming the distances himself. He knew he'd go back to the old way eventually, SeaQuest wouldn't be around forever and while Tony wasn't sure exactly how long he could live, forever seemed a possibility.
His mind wandered over the last two hundred years. He'd lived in the ocean for most of that time, merging occasionally with the human society to learn how they lived. Speaking with them had never been a problem, he was aware that he had an ability to communicate with pretty much anything, but it was strongest with creatures associated with the water. It took slightly longer to get the hang of understanding people, but it was basically the same thing.
The last fifty years he'd been coming to the surface a lot. These people and their cities were so fascinating and, quite frankly, they were fun. He was lucky to live the best of both worlds, he'd grown to appreciate everything. If he left SeaQuest he'd have to lay low for a while, until they forgot about him. He worried about all this until everyone started waking up and he headed over to start the fire. The day went off without a hitch. He found himself joking a lot easier with Lucas, amazed to find that the kid had been right; having a friend who knew, someone he wasn't always trying to hide from, made him relax more than he normally would. He found himself dropping some defences.
When the afternoon came around he headed back out to the ocean, his real home. Breathing the fresh water through his body, allowing the transformation to take place, he cut through the depths like a torpedo. His eyes easily adjusted to see through the water and he was quickly approaching the coral reefs. Yesterday he'd found a rift in the oceans floor that was hidden from ships sensors due to the massive coral walls and he figured he might as well check it out.
He slowed down and glided in the water, running his hands gently over the coral and other seaweeds, memorizing their unique patterns. In places the eels would emerge from their holes and greet him, sliding smoothly around his arms and torso, tickling him. Hundreds of fish and even some sea snakes would pause and acknowledge him, or swim with him before dispersing. His world, his creatures, he loved this. Looking up to the surface, the light shining through clearly fifteen meters above, he saw the same pod of dolphins from the day before. Grinning to himself he swam up in spirals until he was with them, matching their pace. Jumping out of the water and cutting back into it, they sang and what the hell, he joined in. It was a nice change in pace to not be told to shut-up, than again, seeing as pretty much every creature in the ocean knew about him as their protector, or prince as Darwin called him, they wouldn't want to insult him. Ah, it was nice to have some respect. He leapt out of the water again, feeling the hot air brush his skin briefly before the water engulfed him again. He smiled and stopped, looking towards the island, almost a dot in the distance. He ducked back under the water, and headed down to the rift.
He noted several dolphins and other creatures swimming close by, keeping their protective eyes on him. The water became darker but he still had no difficulty navigating the sharp cliffs and he sunk deeper into the rift the water cooling slightly in the shadows.
The ravine was deep, there were places along the top of the edges that moved in tightly, almost completely blocking out the light, and in other places they split to thirty meters apart. There were patches of plant life and the occasional night dwelling creature in the dark depths but other than that it seemed fairly barren. There was something odd about it though. He didn't know what it was exactly, but there was something out of place in the depths, and he found himself slightly uneasy. He should probably start heading back to the beach soon, but he wanted to check around the next corner first. Rounding it quickly he stopped in the middle of a clearing. Ahead of him the ravine came to a solid rock wall, but built into its vertical surface was some kind of structure. Some kind of secret base?
Tony quickly dropped to the ravines floor, the disturbed mud settled back down around him and tickled his flesh. Looking up he saw the distant light blue of the surface, a good five hundred meters at least above him. What the hell was a base doing all the way down here? They usually stayed closer to the surface for safety reasons, unless they didn't want to be found...He looked carefully at the hidden structure.
He couldn't tell how large it was, it seemed to mostly be carved into the rock, there was a shuttle hatch protruding, and some other door below it. He couldn't see it all that well though, it was dark and he was too far away. Should he go closer and investigate? Probably not. Would he? Of course, this place could be doing something illegal, or something. Why the hell else would it be hidden so well? Tony pushed off the firm ocean floor and slowly approached the building, was anyone even there? As he got closer he could see more of a metallic surface, and...windows? Wait a second, he went a little closer and then froze. It was a large window, and it looked like there were several people standing there, looking out...at him. Ah crap.
A light suddenly flicked on, illuminating the water, and him. Double crap. Blinded by the light he decided it was defiantly time to go and turned around to quickly disappear, when he heard, or more so felt the vibrations of the shuttle doors opening. A slight humming began to reverberate through the water, and then got louder, Tony sped up, fear beginning to settle in his limbs. There were two water craft leaving that complex, and he had no doubt that they had seen him, and therefore they were probably out to investigate.
He gave up escaping through the long passage of the ravine and began heading upwards. Hopefully he could hide in the coral, or loose them in more open water where he could go faster, he'd never raced a shuttle before though, and he was pretty sure their mechanized engine was faster than his own power. He swam up as fast as he could, seeing the surface getting closer, little dots now moving about far above him. They were gaining on him, he could feel the water's slight tremors increasing. He tried to swim faster, the rock walls streaming past in a blur, their vegetation becoming thicker the closer to the surface he got, but he didn't notice this. They, whoever these people were, were going to get him. And just as he thought that his frantic escape was slammed to a halt as a net wrapped tightly around him. He couldn't move, and for a moment he was taken back to a time in the past, with the shark killers pulling him out of the water, chaining him in that tank, turning him over to science...he panicked.
"nooooooooo!" He screamed through the water, its pitch would make a whale jealous as it travelled in waves through the water, and then he saw an eel emerge from a crack in the wall ten meters to his left. Unable to swim Tony began to sink back down slowly, he called out to the eel for help and the creature swam away quickly. The shuttles circled him a moment before two beings in swimming gear emerged from the bottom of one and approached his sinking form. He squirmed, and thrashed when their hands grabbed the netting and began to drag him back to the shuttle. He could tell they were having a hard time and he increased his efforts, even after they'd pulled him roughly through the metal hatch and closed it.
He looked around the small metal chamber they were in and twisted again until they stood on the nets, pinning him to the floor. The water began sucking down through the grating he was resting on and he looked up as his captors upper bodies slowly began to blur where they were no longer surrounded by water. He heard their excited mutterings and breathed deeply to calm himself. He had to remain calm, he had to remain calm and remain on top of the situation. The water stopped draining just as it reached his shoulder, he could feel the cold air on his shoulder. The mens voices clearer now, but he still couldn't understand them. Screw being calm! He was not going to lie here and wait for them to decide what to do.
Lurching his body upright Tony quickly drained his lungs and breathed in a gulp of the air. It was metallic and almost stale tasting. On of the men who had been standing on the net fell with a yell into the water and stood up quickly, backing away slightly. Tony's face was pressed down by the net but he could see them fairly well and he glared with all he had.
"What the hell do you think you're doing! Do I look like the type of person you want to kidnap! No! With orders of the UEO you will release me or I swear that I'll." One of the men laughed roughly, shocking Tony into momentary silence. He could feel his anger growing, his face was no doubt turning red and this ass was laughing at him. Just wait until he was free...
"UEO? I should have known they'd create something like you. Always messing around with their experiments" he spat. "What were you doing down here? Huh? I doubt they'd let you far out of their sight if you mattered to them fish man, so shut up." The man glared right back, a dangerous glint in his eye. Tony sat up straighter, his entangled fin swishing slightly in the water.
"If I were you, human, I would let me go now. I am not the type of house guest you want." Tony glared back in defiance, but before a reply could be made the hatch above them opened.
"See you later." The man laughed and climbed out of the small chamber, the other one following and closing the door behind him. A moment later the lights shut off and Tony leaned against the metal wall, smacking his head against it several times, before groaning. This really, really sucked.