Chapter 19: Next

Tina stretched her hands over her head, enjoying the way her spine elongated and her muscles pulled. So long in the underwater dock was starting to bore her. Sure, it looked like something out of a science fiction movie - the kraken staring down at her didn't help - but they were still the same four walls over and over again. It was getting boring.

And the submarine was still a little less than a full day out.

At the moment, Tina was the only one on the dock. She had even taken off her shoes and let her feet dangle in the water. If the pressure at this depth wasn't so high, she might have even tried her hand at swimming.

Because it was so high, they couldn't all stay there for extended periods of time. Since they had just checked in with Ozera's sub, using one of the bound men in the corner, Crispin had gone up to get some fresh air. Tina had just come back from doing the same and was prepared for a long and uneventful wait.

Joe and Ilia had already checked into a hotel in town. Joe wasn't allowed down into the underwater dock. Carrying a half merchild as she was, Tina was certain that it would be able to withstand even the increased pressure at this depth but they didn't want to take any chances. Ilia was useless in a fight and therefor not needed on the dock.

Dallas was with her, enjoying their time together before the submarine arrived. As far as Tina knew, Kai was with Joe as well. Warren, after gorging on the food at the dock, had gone up to sleep it off in the warehouse building.

Which left Tina alone with their prisoners. Since most of them were unconscious, they weren't the best company. Which left her alone in her head.

Which was fine, she had plenty to think through.

Mostly, what was next for her?

She couldn't return to Egypt or go on any other research trips. Those had been paid for with MCRC funding and MCRC no longer existed. The new, as yet unnamed, MCRC wouldn't have the ability to fund research trips of any kind for a long time.

Which left Tina, someone who studied non-humanoid mythics in their natural habitats, without a job. At least, until she found someone willing to fund her trips.

She supposed she could assist Joe in her efforts. A non-humanoid mythic expert would be useful in an organization about helping mythics of all sorts.

Provided, of course, that her father didn't need her twenty-four hour care.

Which, naturally, she would provide if she had to. She wouldn't enjoy it and she would spend every minute trying to get him back to normal, but she would do it. It would be very easy to do with Crispin at her side.

That thought only raised the question of whether or not she would have him at her side.

She pulled her feet from the water and stood up because the thought made her uncomfortable and she wanted to move around.

They hadn't discussed the future. They hadn't discussed anything. As far as she knew, Crispin could fully intend that this relationship last no longer than their trip.

He had pledged loyalty to her father, he had given her no such oaths.

Tina turned as she heard the elevator coming down the tunnel. As if he had been summoned by her thoughts, the doors opened and Crispin stepped out.

He held up a basket of fresh fruit and smiled.

“I'm not hungry.” Tina sat back down at the pool edge but didn't put her feet back in the water.

Crispin came to sit by her, setting the fruit down. He looked at her curiously. She could easily read his expression: Something on your mind?

She shrugged. “Just doing some thinking.”

“About?”

“This and that.” she answered vaguely earning a dry look. “Just a bunch of questions with no answers.”

“Why don't you ask a few. Maybe I can think of them for you?” he suggested.

Tina looked over at the prisoners. The ones that were awake were doing their best to avoid looking at Crispin. She wasn't sure she wanted to have this conversation with them listening in.

Crispin followed her eyes and easily picked up on the direction her thoughts had taken. He cleared his throat and told them, “Sleep.”

Tina felt the familiar pull of her mind urging her to obey as the men in the corner's eyes closed and they all slumped over. It was easy to ignore.

“Alright.” Crispin looked over at her. “They'll be out for a while. So? What questions?”

Tina shook her head. “I thought you didn't like using your voice.”

“I don't.” he admitted curiously. He was sure that wasn't what she had been thinking about. “You wanted privacy and we can't let them off of the dock. Putting them to sleep seemed like the best option to get you that.”

“You use your voice for me.” It wasn't a question and Tina wondered if it was a good thing or not. “Haven't you ever considered just doing what you want? Not following someone else's orders?”

“I have.” he nodded.

Tina rolled her eyes when he left it at that. “And?”

“And what?” he asked. “I considered it.”

“So you just want to follow orders for the rest of your life?” she asked unhappily.

“I don't always follow orders.” he reminded her with a grin. “But, basically, yes. I'm a follower. That's who I am. I'm sorry if you don't like it.”

“I didn't say I didn't like it.” Tina scoffed. “I'm just wondering what the point of always following orders is.”

He smiled. “Of course you wouldn't understand. You give orders, you don't take them. That's just who you are. Taking orders is just who I am. That doesn't mean I won't step up if I have to. I'll just fade back into the background when I'm done.”

“That's stupid.” Tina looked up at the kraken. It wasn't even paying attention to them. It was doing laps in its cage. “Following orders shows a lack of imagination and backbone.”

Crispin's eyebrow merely raised and Tina was forced to admit that, at least in this case, that wasn't quite true. Crispin may follow orders, but he wouldn't follow orders off of a cliff. He obeyed because he wanted to, not because he had to. It was a subtle distinction but it was powerful.

Tina sighed and leaned back so that she was laying out on the floor. “What's next, Crispin?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean, what happens after this.” she looked around.

“Well, I plan on returning to Paradise Falls.” Crispin shrugged. “You're coming?”

“Of course. I have to see my father. I need to kick his ass out of bed.” she said it without any heat. “I just don't know what to do after that.”

He looked back at her curiously. “You said you wouldn't change the way you lived for anyone.”

“And I don't plan to.” she assured him. “But I can't go on research trips without financial backing. MCRC was everything to me and dad. Ozera took that from us. It's why I'm here after revenge.”

“I'm sure it wasn't everything.” Crispin smiled and looked over to the water. There was no wind here, no visible effect of the current. The water was perfectly still and dark, like glass.

XXXXXXXXXX

“This place isn't so bad.” Ilia said as she traded a meager amount of money for a fabulous shell necklace.

Dallas smiled and slipped his arm around her shoulder, “It's not the Islands, but it's pretty nice all the same.”

Ilia nodded and slipped the necklace around her neck. “So, I was thinking. We should get married. Also, maybe get a bigger house.”

Dallas stopped in his tracks but Ilia just kept walking. It took him a few seconds to gather his wits and catch up with her.

“You want to run that one by me again?” he asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

“What?” she asked.

“The married thing?” he said with forced patience.

“Oh, yeah. Well, naturally we'll want to be when we start having kids. Kaylin doesn't want to be an only child forever. Hey, those are nice bags.”

Dallas stopped Ilia from walking away by grabbing her arms and holding her in one place. He took a deep breath to steady himself.

“Okay, Ilia. Slow down. What kids?”

“The ones we're going to have, of course.” she smiled. She enjoyed toying with him like this. “I'm thinking at least five. We can't match my dad but I want to at least beat my siblings for numbers.”

“You want five kids.” Dallas repeated numbly.

She nodded. “Not all at once. We'll space them apart, give ourselves some breathing room. But I think five is a good number.”

“Were you going to discuss this with me at all?” he asked.

“Nope.” Ilia gave him a quick peck on the cheek and slipped from his grasp to go look at the bags she had spotted.

Dallas was left standing in the middle of the road. All at once, her words hit him and he threw back his head and started laughing.

Naturally she would tell him that this was what was going to happen. She just wouldn't be Ilia if she had done it any kind of normal way.

He finally got the ability to return to her as she was passing over some money for the bag. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

“Do I get a ring?” he couldn't help but ask with a grin.

“No, but you're buying me one.” she smiled back at him.

“Am I now?” he laughed again.

“A big one.” she nodded. “It has to be gold. And amethyst. To match my eyes, of course.”

“Of course.” Dallas said like that was obvious.

He took her hand as she continued walking them up the street, buying whatever struck her fancy.

It had occurred to her that, by Dallas going into Ozera's sub, there was a chance she might not see him again. There was no way that she was going to let him go without him knowing who he belonged to.

Without him knowing just how much she loved him.

XXXXXXXXXX

“Have you ever considered taking a year or two off?” Crispin asked softly. “Life's about more than just research trips and mythic observations.”

Tina shrugged and tossed another scrap of food into the pool. A school of fish had appeared beneath them and they were loving Ozera's food supplies. They were both tossing them canned food pieces or dehydrated bits. They had already run out of the fresh fruit Crispin had brought with him. It was actually pretty entertaining.

“I like research trips.” she said. “I almost saw a sphinx on my last one. At least, we found its tracks. I think we might have actually gotten a picture of it if I hadn't been forced to return.”

Crispin made an impressed sound in his throat as he threw the fish a piece of bread from a loaf he had found. They seemed insatiable.

He couldn't remember being this comfortable with Tina before. They had been sitting there for hours already, just talking. And it was wonderful. There was no pressing need for them to go anywhere, there was no one around who could hear them. They could just sit and talk.

Crispin, who hadn't ever really done that before, was having a better time than he would have thought possible. Tina certainly didn't seem to mind their meandering conversation topics or the sporadic silences that were spaced between them.

“Is being a researcher what you always wanted to do?” Crispin asked a few minutes later.

“I wanted to be Indiana Jones.” she answered, completely serious.

After a beat of silence, they both started laughing.

“I guess researcher is just what I fell into.” she said. “It's not too dissimilar. I got to travel around the world and learn new things. Is being an assistant all you ever wanted to do?”

Crispin shrugged. “I never really had a dream. It was more like I just wanted to find a place where I was accepted. I didn't care where that was.”

“Well, congratulations on fulfilling your dream.” she tossed up some bread confetti that fell to the eagerly biting fishes. “So, what do you do now? You have what you want. What's next?”

Crispin made a thoughtful noise as he leaned back on his hands.

XXXXXXXXXX

“Merfolk tend to have multiple births.” Joe said to Kai out of the blue.

They were in her hotel room, he was tracing the smooth lines of her as-yet flat belly on her bed. It was a quiet moment before Kai had to return to the dock and prepare for Ozera's arrival. If he didn't come back, he wanted to have this one last moment with his beloved Kyma.

“I know.” he said simply.

“Twins are common.” she continued like she was just speaking her thoughts out loud. “Single births are pretty rare.”

He nodded.

“Though, more often than not, it's fraternal twins, not identical.” she looked at her belly. “How many do you think we'll have?”

“Probably two.” he shrugged. It didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that they were having a child at all. “We have to go to Greece soon.”

“Why?” she asked, confused about the sudden change in topic.

“My parents.” he reminded her.

“Oh, right.” Joe smiled. Kai's parents lived in the waters around the Greek Isles. Though they had planned to before, they hadn't yet gone there so Joe could meet them. “Will they be excited about the baby? Babies, sorry. Us humans are only used to having one at a time.”

“They will be when they find out.” Kai assured her.

Merfolk didn't have the same societal structure as humans did. They didn't even have a concept of marriage. They did, however, have one of family. Kai's parents were no longer a couple, they hadn't been for quite some time. But they both loved Kai and would love his children as well.

“Do you think we should have our wedding before or after the baby? Babies.” she asked.

He shrugged. “Whatever you want.” Raised a merman, marriage only had meaning to Kai because it had meaning to Joe. Even humans said that a wedding was more for the bride than groom. That was just further proof to him that it was all about Joe. He just needed to show up and make the vows.

“Before.” Joe decided easily. “Even if I'm showing. It'll be a beach wedding. In the sand with the ocean right at our backs. What do you think?”

“Sounds great, Kyma.” he kissed the side of her head. “Perhaps in Greece? My parents may be merfolk but they will understand the importance of the ceremony.”

Joe nodded, beaming. “That sounds perfect. A beach wedding in Greece. Oh, Kai, it sounds too good to be true!”

She turned and wrapped her arms around him, they were kissing before she even realized that that had been her intention.

There was no way that she was going to let him go. He was going to come back from the sub, no matter what. She was going to spend the rest of their time showing him what he had waiting for him to come back.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tina and Crispin had run out of food for the fish and neither of them really wanted to get up and get some more. So they were left looking at the water where the fish were slowly starting to leave in search of other food sources.

Crispin was still leaning back on his hands but Tina was laid out on her belly, stroking the surface of the water with her fingers. The fish were giving her a wide berth.

“Blue.” Tina said at last. “But like a really dark blue. You know that blue of those blue holes in the ocean? That kind of blue.”

Crispin nodded. “That's a good one.”

She nodded. “What about you?”

“Orange.” he said immediately. “Like a honey kind of orange, or citrine. That kind of glowy orange.”

She nodded, smiling. “That's a nice orange.”

They fell silent again. It was very comfortable, they didn't need words. The words were just there. They both enjoyed them, but they didn't need them. It was enough that they were with each other.

“Have you ever thought about what we do if we fail?” Crispin asked her after a moment.

“Try again.” she shrugged. She tried not to think about failure. It was a possibility, but she didn't want to consider it.

“I don't just mean if he gets away.” Crispin said, his voice somber.

Tina touched the water, sending ripples across the surface. “What happens happens. We can't do anything about that. I certainly plan on coming back alive. If one of us has to go though, I would prefer it be me.”

Crispin's eyes sharpened on her. She didn't need to see it, she could feel it.

“You're making faces again.” she said without a change in expression.

“You deserve it for saying something like that.” his voice was hard.

“It can't be Kai or Warren, they're both starting a family.” Tina said. “And Dallas has Ilia to think of.”

“And what about me?” Crispin asked.

“What about you?” she looked over at him.

“Don't you have me to think of?”

She laid her hands on her arms and considered him carefully. “Do I?”

He frowned. “You have to ask?”

“We've never really talked about us.” she said in what she hoped was a nonchalant way.

Crispin sent her a look.

Just like all his others, Tina had no trouble reading it.

I thought there was no need for words between us.

She said nothing, she just sent him her own look. After a moment, she turned back to the water.

They fell silent again but the air was charged this time with waiting. Her muscles were all horribly tense with it. She wanted to call him out, to shake him to what she wanted out of him, but she couldn't. It wouldn't mean anything if she forced it from him. He needed to give it up himself.

She felt his hands in her hair, turning her towards him.

There was no need for words between them, she could read everything he wanted to say on his face.

And he could read hers.

Crispin rolled her over and leaned down to kiss her gently.

Crispin was very careful with his words and Tina was terrible with hers. Luckily for them, everything they needed to say could be conveyed without a single thing spoken.

She could feel it in the heat that poured between them. She could see it in his eyes when he leaned back to look at her. She sensed it in every fiber of her being.

He smiled at her, telling her everything with a look.

Tina smirked back.

That was all they needed. It was all they would ever need.

Crispin returned to her, letting his body tell her everything she wanted to know, feeling hers giving him those same words back.

After a moment, Crispin broke the kiss and smiled at her. “I figured it out.”

“Figured what out?” Tina asked, reaching up and touching his curls.

“What comes next.”

Her eyes focused on him and he smiled.

“You find a new dream.”

Tina smiled back.

It didn't matter what was to come. It didn't matter what happened in the sub. For now, the only thing that mattered was this. And, after it was all over, this would be the only thing that mattered again.