this is sailed across the sea, and cried out to the shore (this is love)

by WorryWar

Summary:

Joule did not like the Above. It was cold enough to be habitable, yes, but it was too dry to be comfortable for very long. Unfortunately, she did not have a choice. Time had blurred since she had been captured- she had been too curious, and strayed too far from her pod to look at the Legged Ones and their boat, and had been caught in their net.

A Danger Kontrolle (Bochum JoulexWembley Wrench) fic where Joule is a mermaid and Wrench is a scientist, and somehow it all works out.

Notes:

This is a Danger Kontrolle fic, meaning that the main characters are Wembley Wrench and Bochum Joule. Shoutout to @phopollo on tumblr for the creation of the ship!

Fic title from “This is Love” by The Hunts

Chapter 1: i don't know anything about you baby- but you're everything i'm dreaming of

Notes:

Chapter title from "Dead Ringer For Love" by Meatloaf

Joule did not like the Above.  It was cold enough to be habitable, yes, but it was too dry to be comfortable for very long.  Unfortunately, she did not have a choice.  Time had blurred since she had been captured- she had been too curious, and strayed too far from her pod to look at the Legged Ones and their boat, and had been caught in their net.

She had fought, of course.  She had fought as hard as she could for as long as she could, until she had been stuck with something that had made her body feel heavy, her hands uncoordinated and her tail too lax to move.  The next thing she knew, she was here.

They called this place a facil-latey. Facil-lottie? No, facil- ity .  Yes, that sounded right.  A facility was a place with dry itchy air, that was cold but not comfortable, where she had a little room and swam in a little tank that had saltwater that tasted wrong .  A facility was a place where they made her hurt .  The Legged Ones were a curious species, she’d give them that.  They always had been.  

And now here she was again, waking up after yet another session where they scraped and stole her scales, and plucked at her hair, and took their samples of her blood.  Her tears too, if they were lucky.  They always got very excited if they saw her cry, even when she tried hard not to.  They had strapped her to one of their tables and then sedated her for good measure- chances were even if she could get free, she would not be able to move.

She had dehydrated too, to the point that her tail had gone and her legs had appeared.  She could feel them under the scratchy hospital gown she was in.  Bastards .  And, somewhere to the side of her, was one of those beeping machines that never shut up .

There was some pressure at her wrist suddenly, and she lolled her head to the side as her eyes fluttered open.  A woman was there standing next to the table she was on, and fiddling with one of the straps.  She had light hair, lighter than sea foam or arctic ice even, and was dressed in the white coat that designated her as a sigh-entist.   If Joule could have, she would have tensed as the woman lifted her now free arm slightly and placed two fingers over her wrist- as it was, all she could do was blink and watch, unable to even muster the strength to snarl or bite.

The woman looked down at her then, and smiled when she realized Joule was already staring.  It was a very pretty smile, even if all of her teeth were strangely rounded.

The woman held her arm gently for a moment, then sat it back down, placing it onto Joule's stomach.  Joule tried to move her hand, but only managed to get her fingers to twitch.  The sedation was too strong.  She looked back at the woman, whose attention was on the beeping machine next to her.  With a few taps, she silenced the noise, something Joule was very grateful for.  The woman said something then, staring directly at her.  Slowly, the woman reached an arm out, hand stretching towards Joule, who watched warily.  

The woman’s hand made contact with Joule’s hair, the mane that helped her feel the currents in the water but seemed so heavy out of it, and… began to stroke.  The woman was petting her, Joule realized, not unlike how she would pet the dolphins and turtles she swam with from time to time.  She would be more affronted by it if it hadn’t felt so nice.  It was the first kind touch she had felt since she had been brought here.

The woman smiled slightly, a sight that made Joule immediately focus on her more completely.  It was a very pretty smile.  She said something else, a soft murmur that caused Joule to lean towards her, and into her touch.

A loud electronic noise sounded then- more talking, but from above them, from a little box mounted in the ceiling.  The woman looked up at it and frowned.  The noise sounded in the same pattern, repeating, and the woman sighed, withdrawing her hand.  Joule missed its warmth immediately.  Despite herself, she whined a little at the loss of contact, and was rewarded as the woman gave a startled laugh.  It was a beautiful noise.  Joule wanted to hear it again and again.

The woman carefully grabbed her arm again, placing it at Joule’s side and redoing the straps around her arm.  She was so gentle with her movements, and moved slowly and deliberately in a way that showed Joule what she was going to do before she did it.  How thoughtful.

She reached up to pet Joule’s hair again, this time taking care to sweep strands off of her forehead and smooth down the rest of her tresses, and Joule found herself leaning into the touch again, eyes fluttering shut as the woman’s hand continued to work its magic.  No one had been so considerate in ages .

That harsh electronic sound happened again, and the woman’s hand disappeared.  Joule’s eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at the woman, who was looking at the box in the corner again.  She didn’t look happy.  Joule wondered what she heard.

Finally the woman drew away again, and picked up a clip board on a nearby table as Joule watched her resignedly.  Now the woman would go and she would be left alone in the dry air with only the newest round of injuries to focus on.  Instead, the woman surprised her.

She turned back towards Joule, and placed a hand on her own chest, Joule’s eyes tracking the movement with interest.  What was she doing?

“Wrench,” she said, slowly and clearly, and Joule cocked her head in confusion.  What was “Wrench”?  

The woman gestured to herself, and said “Wrench” again, and Joule’s eyes widened.  She understood now.  It was the woman’s name .

“Wirr-ench” she repeated softly, tripping over the word with a mouth unused to the Legged Ones language and clumsy from sedation, and the woman’s eyes widened, mouth opening.

Before either of them could do anything else, the box blared again, and the woman’s head whipped towards it.  She listened for a moment, and then nodded.  She looked down at Joule again, face twisted in a way Joule didn’t like, and turned away.

Joule watched the woman- Wrench - go, tracking her as she crossed the room towards the door.  It slid open, and Wrench turned back to look at her for a moment before heading out.  She shot Joule a small smile, weighted with something Joule did not recognize,  and the door closed behind her, leaving Joule alone.

Wrench .  What an odd name.  Or maybe it wasn’t for a human, who knew.  Joule had a friend whose name would sound similar to human ears, so maybe it was more common than she thought.

Regardless, this Wrench… this one was different from the others.  Kinder, certainly. Prettier, definitely .  Who had been so gentle, and had talked to her.  And the only one who had ever bothered to do something other than hurt her.

Wrench .

Joule looked forward to seeing this Wrench again.

Chapter 2: we must have been made by a man, 'cause a woman would have made us more economically

Notes:

Chapter title from "Five and A Half Minutes" by Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk

A company town (or mono-city as it was also known) was a town where the majority of the people who lived there were employed by the same employer.  Common examples included Bentonville, Arkansas (Walmart) and Hershey, Pennsylvania (that one seemed self-explanatory).  And of course, there was the town of Terreroy Wharf, a harbor town affectionately nicknamed “Terror” by those who lived there.  It was notable because the majority of its residents (a staggering sixty-eight percent) were employed by a company known as the Commission.

The Commission.  A far reaching mega conglomerate with their fingers in many pies- from technology to travel to cutting edge science.  Terreroy, while not the headquarters for the Commission, had two major purposes: it held a privately owned harbor that most Commission products would travel through on the way out of the US, and it contained a perfectly ordinary, unassuming laboratory.  Or so it seemed.

Wrench, like many others, did not like her job.  It paid decently (which in this economy was a definite plus), the research was interesting, and she loved her lab, but- well.  The company (both her coworkers and her employer) left much to be desired.  The ordinary, unassuming laboratory concealed a high security facility contracted by the government for the study of naturally occurring phenomena, and didn’t always care about how they did it.

"Naturally occurring phenomena” of course referred to what others might call the supernatural, but in reality were just lesser known occurrences.  And right now, their prize specimen was known as Subject 4425- a mermaid.

Subject 4425 was by all accounts violent and unpredictable.  She had a venomous bite, and had, on two separate occasions, succeeded in dragging an unfortunate lab technician into her tank and causing significant bodily harm.  She was to be restrained any time she was out of her tank, and, for that matter, kept out of her tank as frequently as possible when scientists were scheduled to interact with her.

So, when Blue Lightning had had some sort of emergency and had to call out of work and it had unexpectedly become Wrench’s responsibility to check the subject’s vitals after a sampling session, she had been expecting something different.  Based on the reports, something far more agitated and hostile.  She had been assured that 4425 was sedated heavily so as not to disrupt Wrench’s work and to protect her, but she had expected far more hostility.  What she hadn’t expected was… well.  The subject herself.

She was taller than Wrench expected, even lying down on the examination table.  She had a tail, Wrench had seen pictures of it in her file, but she had been out of water for too long, and so it was nowhere to be seen, instead replaced by two legs.  She had a wild tangle of light blonde hair with red streaks within it, and when she had opened her eyes to peer at Wrench curiously, her pupils had been shrunken to pinpricks.  Her skin had been cool to the touch, and when she had opened her mouth Wrench had glimpsed fangs.  She could have passed for a relatively tall human at a distance, but only at a distance

She had been told that 4425 as was remarkably intelligent for her species, but that she was still a mer.  Closer to creature than to human.  And so Wrench had done her best to approach the subject as such: speaking in a low, even voice and telegraphing her movements as best as she could so as not to startle the subject.  The last thing she wanted to do was scare her.

She hadn’t been able to resist touching the subject’s hair.  4425 just seemed so disoriented and wary, and her hair looked so soft… she hadn’t been able to resist.  The subject had seemed startled, but had leaned into her touch readily enough.  It was endearing.

Of course, she had immediately been told off.  Stupid remote monitoring protocol, how she wasn’t supposed to leave the subject unrestrained, how she had a job to be doing and was taking too long.  Nevermind how she had clearly calmed 4425 down, and that the normally hostile subject had shone zero sign of being, you know, hostile .

And so, in an act of rebellion that she would surely pay for later, she had introduced herself to the subject.  And incredibly, 4425 had said her name back .  It wasn’t perfect, but it was unmistakable.  That was intelligence , beyond a doubt.  And that, more than anything else, had gotten her to doubt just what she had been told about Subject 4425.

She wasn’t just an animal, no matter what her coworkers or superiors said.  She couldn’t be.  And that, of course only made Wrench more curious as to what- and who - 4425 actually was.  And Killerwatt, the only friend of hers who had the misfortune of working on the security outfit at the laboratory, had agreed.

“It’s weird, right?”  She asked him one night in the kitchen of his and Electra’s shared home, keeping their voices down so as not to disturb game night.  They had a mutual unspoken agreement that the others- Joule, who worked in the harbor, Volta, who was in marketing for the Commission’s public-facing shipping office, and Electra, not employed by the Commission but an honest-to-god heirix that just did as they pleased- did not need to know the specifics of what happened at their place of work.

“You can’t be certain she was saying your name.  Maybe she was just mimicking the noises you made.”  It was a reasonable argument, and one Wrench herself had considered.  She would be remiss to not entertain every possibility, but it felt off.  There had been curiosity in 4425’s eyes, and had left Wrench curious herself.

“You weren’t there, Killerwatt.  I can’t be certain either way.”  She had her suspicions, but Wrench knew as a scientist she had to consider both sides.  Even if there was already strong evidence in one camp.

“It’s possible they’ve already tested this and determined she doesn’t,” he said doubtfully, clearly not believing his own words, and she fixed him with a flat look.

“Because the Commission has such a great track record for upholding moral and equitable standards,” she said sarcastically, and he made a face in agreement.  It was a well-known fact that when the company could save money, they would- regardless as to who it hurt in the process.  

“Everything about 4425 is wrapped up in the highest security clearance that I’ve ever seen.  Whatever you plan to do, Wrench-“ 

“There you two are!”  It was Electra, swanning in and draping their arms around Killerwatt.  He started slightly, then leaned back into them, kissing their cheek.

“We were just about to come back,” the security guard said quietly, to which Electra beamed.

“Thank goodness, Joule and Volta are massacring me at cards.  Help me win?”

“Electra, that’s cheating, I’m not gonna-“ Killerwatt cut himself off as Electra whispered something in his ear.  He colored slightly as Wrench looked on in amusement.

“…I’m going to help you win.”  He said, and Wrench didn’t bother hiding her snicker.  He glowered at her as Electra smiled angelically.

“Wrench, you saw nothing,” they added, and she shot them finger guns.

“Sounds good.”  She watched them leave, then turned back to Killerwatt, who was still staring after his partner with a small smile.

“Gay.”  She declared with a smirk, knocking their drinks together with a clink .

“Very.”  He deadpanned, taking a sip of his drink in response.  She waited as he did, knowing that he had more to say about 4425.  Finally he sighed, and put his glass on the counter.

“You’re a scientist Wrench.  If you have a theory, I think you know how to test it.  But for the love of God, be careful .”

“I’m always careful,” Wrench said seriously, fighting a laugh when he gave her a look, “Well, careful enough .”

That had been the last they had spoken about it, and the next day Wrench had returned to the lab, determined to keep her head down and bide her time.  And a few days later, she had gotten her chance.  Subject 4425’s vitals were taken between ten and eleven A.M. daily on a rotating schedule, and it was Wrench’s turn, the first since the subject’s capture.  Normally, Wrench’s work was not focused around live subjects (she had a background in anthropology and bioengineering, not the zoology focus live subjects required), but she knew the basics, and would manage.

Orange Flash was her partner for the task- she had only been allowed to be alone with 4425 in their initial meeting because 4425 had been sedated and restrained and monitored.  This time, since 4425 would only be restrained and monitored, a partner was necessary for safety.  Or something.  It felt redundant.

Together, they walked down the long hall to the room where the subject was held, Flash chattering the entire way.  

“It’s fucking weird ,” Flash was saying in a conspiratorial tone, “like- have you seen it’s sides? It’s got gills.  And, like, it can glow.  Bioluminescence, but we can only see it in the cameras, for whatever reason it hasn’t done it in front of us yet, but Eagle has a theory-“

Flash was a zoologist with a background in bioinformatics- they were far more involved with the study of 4425 than she was, and, more importantly, the only one of her coworkers that she could tolerate for extended periods of time.

Wrench didn’t dislike Flash per say, but they weren’t really friends.  They were like one of those work acquaintances who could be commiserate with over how asinine a higher-ups request was, but also a person who was a notorious gossip and only got close to others for that purpose alone.  Some of Wrench’s coworkers tolerated this, and would indulge it, but Wrench was not one of them.

“Flash, is there anything I should know about the subject’s activities today?”  She interrupted Flash mid-sentence, cutting off their speculative ramble.

“Oh- yeah!  We ran a round of temperature tests on it this morning, coupled with brackish water exposure.  Hopefully its tired out enough to not give you any trouble.”  Flash laughed, though nothing they had said was particularly funny, and Wrench grit her teeth to keep her scowl from fully forming.  Asshole .

Finally, they reached 4425’s room.  Well, room was perhaps underselling it a bit.  Wrench knew the basics: about half of it a regular room with a bed in one corner, while the other half was composed of a giant tank that was inset into the floor and reached up to chest height, so 4425 had a space to swim.  It was… habitable, was perhaps the best way to put it.  A place to exist in.

That was what Wrench expected to see when she entered the room with Flash.  That was what she did see, for the most part.  But of course, all of that was merely a side note as soon as she saw 4425.  She was lying on some sort of hospital bed, arms and legs (legs again, she noted distantly) restrained to the sides of the bed.  Her head turned towards the pair ever so slightly- perhaps Flash had been right, and she was exhausted from earlier.  But the biggest issue, the one thing she hadn’t known to expect, was the fucking muzzle.

Carefully, Wrench approached 4425, the subject turning her head to regard her with tired eyes.  She reached out to touch one of the straps on the muzzle, and miraculously, 4425 let her, staying very still.  It was securely fastened around the subject’s head, and this close Wrench could see the silver bite bar in her mouth, and how it pulled painfully at the sides of her lips.

“Why is she muzzled?”  Wrench fought to keep the anger out of her voice.  This was unnecessary.  This was cruel .  

“It bit Arrow, and he’s currently under observation in the medical ward,” Flash said, shrugging, “This is for everyone’s safety.  It’s not gonna hurt you, don’t worry.”  Wrench stared at them, and they raised their eyebrows.

“It’s venomous and violent ,” Flash emphasized carefully, “the muzzle is staying on.  Now hurry up and do what you need to do.”

Wrench took a deep breath, and turned back to 4425, who seemed to have rallied slightly and was regarding her now with more awareness and no small amount of what was definitely curiosity.

Slowly, she reached out a hand again, this time aiming for 4425’s hair, and the subject's eyes tracked her movement.  Then, amazingly, 4425 shifted toward her hand, closer and closer until Wrench’s fingers tangled in soft blonde hair.  She remembered.   And even more incredibly, it seemed like 4425 wanted to be touched.  It suddenly occurred to Wrench that beyond this, 4425 may not have had anyone touch her without the intent to hurt her in a long time.  If it were Wrench, she’d want to be pet too, and she swallowed hard, slowly dragging her fingers through 4425’s mane of hair and brushing it back from her face.

“Wrench,” sighed Flash, but Wrench paid them no mind.

“In a moment,” she said absentmindedly. B4425’s eyes were half-lidded, and she had gone completely lax.  There was a sudden soft thrumming noise, and it took Wrench a moment to realize what it was.   She was purring .

“Hello kitty-cat,” Wrench murmured, mostly to herself.  It wasn’t like 4425 could understand her properly anyways, and there was no one else to hear.  She shifted her hand’s placement ever so slightly, and was rewarded with 4425 knocking her head against Wrench’s hand to nudge it back into place.  It was incredibly endearing, and she huffed a laugh.  Just like a cat.

Wrench acquiesced, and was rewarded with 4425 staring up at her, pinprick pupils slowly expanding until nearly her entire eye was swallowed by the blackness.  Exactly like a cat.

“Aw,” Orange had drifted closer as her attention had been focused on 4425, “it’s kinda cute when it’s not trying to bite people.”  They reached out a hand, and everything went to hell.

4425 gave the closest approximation to a snarl that she could, thrashing against her restraints until Wrench could hear the struts on the bed begin to creak.  Then-

“Shit!” Flash threw themself backwards as Wrench heard a snap , and the restraints holding one of 4425’s arms broke and her arm reached out to snag Flash’s coat and drag them closer.  4425 made another noise- closer now to a roar of anger, and Wrench lunged before she could think to hard about what she was thinking.

“No!” Wrench grabbed 4425’s arm, and both her and Flash froze and looked at her.

“They shouldn’t have done that,” she said as calmly as possible, “but you need to let them go.  It’ll just end up hurting you.”  Please.  It’ll be worse for you if you don’t .

“Wrench, just hit the panic button, it’ll get people here faster,” hissed Flash, who was very pale and trying to hide their fear behind a mask of anger.

“Shut up Flash, I’m trying to help you,” Wrench snapped, then turned her attention back to 4425.  She wormed her fingers into the grip 4425 had on Flash’s coat, coaxing her into loosening her grip.  4425 now only had eyes for her, and slowly Weench began to piece the puzzle she had been working on.

Recognition of Wrench.  Ability to differentiate between herself and Orange Flash.  Able to demonstrate strong preference between the two when both displayed similar behaviors.

“I’m going to stay right here, okay?  I’m not gonna move, and we’re gonna wait here until the others come.”  They were almost certainly on their way- the remote monitoring would have taken care of that.  4425 gave no response to that of course, but slowly her fingers loosened completely from Orange Flash, who stumbled back until their back hit the wall.  

Able to be reasoned with.

4425 watched them back away in a way Wrench would only describe as smug in the incident report later.  Then, she did something unexpected.  4425 reached out towards Wrench, who stayed still as he hand very carefully, very gently, cupped her face.  Wrench felt a thumb stroke her cheek and trace her lips.  It tickled.  Then, 4425 poked her nose, and she jolted in surprise.

Curious.

“ Okay , thank you, we’re done with that,” Wrench grumbled, rubbing her nose, as 4425 made an odd chittering noise.  Was she laughing?

Playful.

“They’re almost here,” Flash called from their spot over by the wall, having slowly begun to inch towards the door.  So much for the safety in numbers theory, clearly, and Wrench turned her attention back to the subject, who had tensed at the sound of Flash’s voice.  So, Wrench did what any reasonable person would do, grabbing her hand and holding tight.

“I’m gonna stay here for as long as I can, okay?  We’re just gonna stay here and stay calm.”  She kept it up, murmuring every platitude she could think of to 4425, who seemed to only have unblinking eyes for her.

Intelligent, beyond a doubt.

She stayed there, holding onto 4425’s hand tightly as the door opened and the others swarmed in, as 4425 was injected with something despite Wrench’s vehement protests and until those wide, curious eyes fluttered closed.

Chapter 3: i fear not the weather, i fear not the sea- i remember the fallen, do they think of me?

Notes:

Chapter title from "Bones in the Ocean" by The Longest Johns

Wrench was back!  Wrench was back!  If Joule had been able to, she would have cheered.  Alas, she could not.  Stupid sigh-entists.  She finally manages to bite one- the surest sign of stay away she could make- and they make it so she couldn’t even open her mouth.  And the metal thing- it tasted bad.  One of the silver ones- aluminum, the humans called it.  And to make matters worse, they had still hurt her after.  The only upside was that the sigh-entist she had bitten had not.

But Wrench had come back.  And she had held her hand.  And Joule had been able to touch her.  She had been so warm.  The ocean wasn’t really warm, save for near hydrothermal vents in the deep- but Wrench was, and while it was so different from home, it- it wasn’t bad.  Not like so much of the Above was.  She would like the warmth more, she thought, if it was always like it was from Wrench.

But now Wrench was gone again.  Joule had woken up in the tank full of awful tasting water, completely alone.  And she still had that stupid thing on her face.  It was locked on her in some way, and try as she might, she couldn’t get it off- there were no sharp things in the tank.  At least she had her tail back though: a long navy appendage speckled with red and silver scales.  It gave her some small sense of comfort within the big tank.  

Ever since she had been captured, Joule spent most of her time in the tank.  It felt safest in there, under the water, where no one could touch her, even if the safety was a lie.  Sometimes, she would swim laps around the tank.  Other times she simply curled up on the bottom, and tried to loose herself in the weight of the water on top of her.  It didn’t work- the circulation of the tank was nothing like the tides.  Nothing like home.

She didn’t know how long she’d been here- there was no way to measure moon-cycles here, no moonlight or tides to give her some indication.  Simply periods of time when the lights dimmed, and once they brightened again Joule knew that the sigh-entists would be back with some new way to hurt her.

Not Wrench though.  At least, not yet- and she had definitely had the opportunity.  But she had let Joule feel her face, and held her hand until the others had injected her with something cold that made her arms heavy.  And still, Wrench had been warm.

Joule wanted to see Wrench again.  No, scratch that, she was going to see Wrench again.  The sigh-entists may not understand her, but she would make them.  Even if she had to bite every single one of them to do it.

Through the water, she could see the door swing open, and blurry figures begin to enter the room.  She smiled, with all her teeth.  Time to put her plan in motion.

Notes:

A short one today :)

Chapter 4: when i asked what i could offer them they said, "gin and tonic or lithium"

Notes:

Chapter title from "Witch Dance" by Florence and the Machine

“I’m sorry, you want me to what?”  Wrench wasn’t sure she was hearing this right.  What sort of stupid, hare-brained scheme-

“Head into 4425’s enclosure alone.”  Golden Eagle repeated, not looking up from the report he was scanning on his computer.  Green Arrow stood behind him, arm in a sling and scratching at his neck sheepishly.  Clearly Wrench wasn't the only one who had severe safety concerns.  It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see 4425 again, and it wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her alone, but- they had safety procedures for a reason.  And they were just-

“You’re proposing throwing me to the wolves.”  She protested, and Eagle looked across the desk to roll his eyes at her.

“One wolf.  And it’s a mer.  Anyways, I’m not the one who got all buddy-buddy with it instead of reaching for the panic button.”

“I was trying to keep everyone in one piece,” Wrench hissed, crossing her arms, “which worked, by the way- you’re welcome.”

“Eagle,” Orange Flash broke in, skittish from where they had been standing by the desk, silent until now, “Wrench is right, this isn’t-”

“Flash, Lightning isn’t here right now because the subject managed to gouge her torso badly enough to warrant an emergency airlift to a hospital.  Arrow recovered from his bite just in time to come back and immediately get thrown into a wall and fracture his arm.  Its behavior is becoming increasingly violent, and Wrench is the only one who’s had any even slightly positive interaction with her.  It can’t be sedated forever- it interferes with our data.  We need someone who can reliably subdue it.”

His reasoning made sense, from an objective perspective, but it made Wrench’s stomach twist horribly at the thought.  She was curious about 4425 and where she came from, but not the way the others were.  Wrench wanted to learn about her, not subdue her and experiment on her the way the others did.  She wanted to learn more about 4425- she wanted to learn 4425’s name.

“And if she bites me and I end up in our ICU?  Or she mauls me to pieces?”  Wrench tried, crossing her arms.  Even if 4425 probably wouldn’t do anything, just sending someone in with no backup was a terrible idea, and something Eagle should know.

“I’ll live with it.”  Eagle responded with a withering glare.  “But these orders come from our superiors- I tried to talk them down but you know how the Nationals can be.”  Wrench had no illusions to what the higher ups were like- the board of international executives they had nicknamed the Nationals.  Unfortunately, she also had a pretty good idea of how hard Eagle had tried to talk them down.

“Thank you, Eagle,” Wrench said flatly, “Your support as always is meaningless,” He scowled at her.  This was absolutely payback from the last department meeting where she had corrected him in front of their higher ups.  Asshole.

“Regardless, you’re doing this.  And hey, if you don’t die, maybe you’ll get to spend more time with your new best friend.”  Golden Eagle had grinned then, but his eyes had remained hard.  Wrench had no choice but to grit her teeth and nod.

And now here she was, right outside 4425’s enclosure.  She had been assured that the others would be watching through the cameras, but that no one would interfere unless she was in mortal peril (this had prompted a debate about what exactly constituted ‘mortal peril’ that Wrench had eventually walked out of).  And so, she used her keycard to open the door, and headed in.

The room was just as she remembered, with no evidence of the havoc Golden Eagle had claimed 4425 had wrought.  No sign of 4425 in the part of the room she could see- she must be in the tank.  Slowly, Wrench approached, and could see a shape moving within the water.  She had been right, then.  She came to the side of the tank- it was about waist high, but dropped down into the floor below, making it deeper than it initially appeared.  She peered into the water, searching, until-

A splash, from a little ways away, and Wrench’s head whipped towards the sound.  There she was.  4425 was only a few feet away, her head poking out of the water only so far so Wrench could see her eyes, her platinum hair trailing behind her.  Those big eyes stared at her, and she did nothing but stare back, frozen at the prospect of being so close to the subject.  Then, slowly, 4425 blinked, and began to drift closer as Wrench forced herself to remain still.  She was reminded of a shark hunting its prey as those eyes came closer, and closer, and-

Splash!

Now it was Wrench’s turn to blink and sputter.  4425 had… spit water at her?  What?  She quickly raised a hand to wipe her face off, and was rewarded with that chittering sound from the subject again.  She was laughing at her.  A glance at 4425 confirmed this: she had pulled back to swim small circles around in victory, staring back at Wrench as she did.

“Thanks for that,” Wrench muttered, though she smiled despite herself.  It was a little endearing, and completely unexpected- Wrench thought she might get a bite taken out of her, not… well. Teased.

“I’m here because you’ve been causing trouble for the others,” Wrench began, and was rewarded as 4425 froze in the water, peering at her intensely again.  Her cat-eyes were fully black again as she blinked at Wrench, drawing closer to the edge of the tank.

“I definitely approve, but I’m also pretty sure they have a betting pool as to whether or not you tear me apart, so-“

Her earlier feeling of being hunted wasn’t wrong, Wrench realized too late.  4425 had been biding her time, and in her explanation to her presence she had gotten too close to the edge of the tank.  So close to the tank that 4425 had been able to reach out and grab her, dragging her into the water before Wrench had a chance to register what was happening.

Fwoosh!

Her head went under, and water shot up her nose.  She couldn’t breathe, and she thrashed uselessly in the water, fighting to reach the surface.  But it was no use: her arms and legs were pinned together, held tightly in place as she struggled.  Suddenly, she was hoisted upwards and her head broke the surface of the water.  Wrench gasped for air, coughing as the water emptied her lungs and looked wildly around, blinking salt water out of her eyes and trying to figure out what had happened in the last several seconds.

4425 was wrapped around her, tail encircling her legs and arms encircling her torso in a firm and unyielding grip.  Wrench squirmed- for data, of course- and found no give in the lines of hard muscle coiled around her.

4425 had buried her face into the crook of Wrench’s neck, and was purring again, a contented sound that Wrench could feel in her chest from where she was pressed up against 4425.  Just like a kitty-cat, she thought absently.  She could feel the metal of the muzzle against her skin too, chilled by the water.  

“Hey,” Wrench said softly, but received no response.  No sign that the subject had heard her, or would respond to verbal prompting.  She flexed her hands out as far as she was able to, and managed to brush 4425’s sides.  Her fingers met slits on the subject’s ribs- gills.  The effect was instantaneous- 4425 squirmed for a moment, causing the water to slosh, and then tensed, face still pressed to Wrench’s neck.  Ticklish?  Wrench worried for a moment she might have actually hurt her, until she found herself unceremoniously dunked underwater and quickly brought back up.  She sputtered as the water sloshed around and heard 4425’s unique laughter again.  She was playing with her.

“Wrench!”  The door had slid open, and Orange Flash ran in, followed by Golden Eagle, Green Arrow, and several guards, who immediately took aim at the tank with the requisite dart guns that were loaded with enough tranquilizer to take down an elephant.  Wrench felt 4425 tense, the coils of her tail tightening around the scientist’s legs as she snarled from where she was positioned behind Wrench.  In a flash, 4425 had twisted, so that her torso was blocking Wrench from view of the others outside the tank.  Protective.

“Wait!”  Wrench called frantically, no longer able to see what was happening, “She’s playing!  She’s not doing anything!”  She could feel the water in the tank beginning to turn rougher from 4425’s movements.  She had to keep her calm.

“It’s a wild animal,” Eagle shouted, “You can’t be certain! Take aim!”  Wrench could hear the click of safeties releasing, and tried again.

“She hasn’t hurt me!  Hold your fire!”

“We can’t take that chance!”

“Every other person who’s gotten close to her has been attacked within seconds,” Wrench pleaded, knowing that if her triumph card wasn’t accepted she was out of options, “You sent me in here to see if it was different with me.  Let me get out of this on my own and prove your theory correct.”

Silence.  For a moment no one moved except 4425, who buried her face now into the back of Wrench’s neck.  She was not purring this time, but rather emitting a quiet, dangerous growling that made Wrench break out in goosebumps to hear.  The water felt as if it was growing colder too, and Wrench tried not to shiver.  

“Eagle, give me a chance,” Wrench tried after the silence had stretched too long, “she hasn’t hurt me yet- I can do this.”

“Fine,” She heard from Eagle, “Fall back.”  He called, and there was a shuffling noise as the group presumably filed out the door.  “If something happens, that’s on you.”  Was his parting shot.  Wrench heard the door shut, leaving her and 4425 once again alone in the lab.  

Wrench squirmed again, and this time found that there was slightly more give to the limbs encircling her.  Her movement alerted 4425 to her, and Wrench found herself suddenly face to face with the subject again.  4425’s brow was furrowed, her head cocked slightly as she stared at Wrench.  Wrench shivered again, both from the scrutiny and the chill of the water.  4425 wasn’t exactly warm to the touch, and was not helping Wrench’s steadily dropping internal temperature.

Slowly, she reached out with a hand made clumsy from the chill and brushed her fingers over the muzzle, still locked on the subject’s face.  There was a slight give to it, so it could conform to 4425’s face, but it was tight enough that there would be no easy removal from her.  She could see sores peeking out where 4425’s lips were irritated by the muzzle, and the part of her whose empathy couldn’t be shut off for the world ached at the sight.  Oh, kitty-cat.  4425 watched her hand carefully, curiously as Wrench felt around to the back of her head.  A heavy lock, tangled in the pale hair.

This would have to come off.  And if Wrench couldn’t make the argument to get ahold of the key, she would cut it off, regardless of consequences.  If that’s what it took, she would do it.  

“I need t-to go,” Wrench said quietly.  She had no reason to believe 4425 understood, but she said it anyways, gesturing to the outside of the tank.  She was sure her lip were purple now, and wasn’t sure how to convey to 4425 that humans weren’t supposed to turn that color.

“I n-need to leave,” she said again, making the same motion she had before and trying to angle her body in that direction, “I’ll be back, but I need to warm up- but now I know for next time, alright?  I’ll be better prepared.”  Come hell or (possibly literal) high water, Wrench would absolutely be back.

4425 only blinked again, and Wrench sighed, resigned to the idea of freezing to death in the arms of the surprisingly tactile mer.  There were worse ways to go, she thought- 4425’s grip was quite comfortable.  But- it was beginning to loosen slightly, wasn’t it?  The subject’s tail had unwrapped from around her legs entirely, and Wrench gave an experimental kick.  Completely uninterrupted.  

Slowly, 4425 pulled them under the water, giving Wrench enough time to take a deep breath before doing so.  Her face was close to Wrench's always staring, as Wrench felt herself propelled through the water.  In a few seconds, her back hit a wall.  The edge of the tank.  Understands non-verbal communication of complex ideas.  

4425 watched as Wrench broke the surface of the water and scrambled out of the tank and back into dry land.  She could feel droplets running down her face and she shed her lab coat with a squelch, leaving it where it lay as she slowly trudged to the door.  She was shivering rather badly as she approached, but took a moment to turn back to look at the subject.  

4425 was still watching her carefully, arms folded over the edge of the tank.  Wrench could see her tail flicking lazily in the water through the glass panels, and she smiled despite herself.  She raised a hand, waving at 4425 and hoping she would understand its meaning.  After a moment, 4425 mimicked Wrench’s motion and waved back.

That was the last Wrench saw of 4425 before the doors slid shut, and she was confronted again with the lab whose whims they were both subject to- the difference being that while 4425 was fantastical and one of a kind, Wrench was not- at least, not yet.

Chapter 5: i just wanna get to know ya, 'cause i didn't quite think it through

Notes:

Chapter Title from "Red Wine Supernova" by Chappell Roan

There was a place, off of the coast of the place the Legged Ones called Cal-forna, where if you stuck your head out of the water, and the wind blew just right, you could hear the special sound of it rushing through the hills: coast-song.  To some, it was a haunting noise, a mournful one.  To Joule, it was the most beautiful sound ever: a chorus of indistinct voices, unceasing and otherworldly.  Sound didn’t travel as well under water- music wasn’t the same as it was on land.  If the Legged Ones had done anything right, it was probably music.  If there was anything else, it was definitely Wrench.

That being said, Joule’s hi-poth-esses was correct- Wrench was nice to hold.  And fun to splash!  

It hadn’t been as fun when the others rushed in though.  Joule had done her best to protect her though, she could do that much.  And the yelling- harsh words that Wrench had reacted to, and yelled back.  And then her lips had started to change color, and Joule was fairly certain the Legged Ones weren’t supposed to turn that shade of purple, or have their skin turn that pale.  So, she had let Wrench go, despite everything in her pleading with her not to.

So she was surprised when the next day there were no tests- she was left alone in her tank full of strange currents and bad tasting water.  Normally by this point after the overhead lights had flickered back on, there would have been the doors opening and more sigh-entists rushing in with their net for testing and cutting and pain.  But there hadn’t been any today, and so she stayed curled up at the bottom of the tank, periodically rising up to look out the glass wall and make sure the door was still closed.

Maybe they had gotten the message.  Maybe she had managed to maul all of them and there were no more who could come (unlikely, but she could hope).  But then that might mean no more Wrench.  And Joule didn’t want that.  Not at all.

She was drawn out of her musings by the faint sound of the door, and she rose up through the water to the window of the tank to watch.  The door swung open- and Wrench walked in.

She looked different now.  She had been wearing a long white coat before like the others had, one that had floated up when she had entered the water.  Now she had- was it some sort of skin?  Could the Legged Ones grow different types of skin?  Did they do that? 

Regardless as to whether or not they could, Wrench was covered from neck to ankle in some form of black form-fitting material.  It was, Joule thought, a definite upgrade to the strange white coat.  She had some black shoo-s on as well, that made a muffled plodding sound on the ground as she approached Joule.  She trekked to the edge of the tank, like she had the day before and stopped, leaning over slightly and peering into the water.  Joule stayed very still, waiting to see what Wrench would do next.  Then, Wrench dipped her fingers in the water, lightly playing with the surface tension and sending ripples through the water.  Joule knew an invitation when she saw one.  

She darted forward, up through the water, to lightly bump Wrench’s hand.  She seemed startled, but Joule wouldn’t pull her in.  Not yet, at least- Wrench had moved with a mission this time, and Joule was curious.  So instead, she stared up through the last few inches of water at Wrench, to see her next move.

Slowly, Wrench began to stroke Joule’s hair again, a slow repetitive motion from her forehead back through her tresses.  Joule found herself rising up closer to the surface so Wrench’s hand could travel further, towards the back of her neck.  She wondered what the purpose of the petting was- would Wrench like it if she did it back? Her hair was much shorter than Joule’s, but it looked soft enough.

Wrench, seeing that Joule was lulled by her actions, slowly brought her other hand into the tank.  She was holding something, something metal that was slightly longer than her hand and pointed on one end.  Joule shied away from it in concern.  No instrument that the Legged Ones had brought around her led to anything but pain.  But Wrench, after pausing at her reaction, dropped her hand further into the water, turning the pointed part of the metal thing towards herself and offering the other end, two brightly colored prongs, to Joule.  Slowly, Joule took it, and sank down into the water to examine it.

It wasn’t a metal that could remain underwater for very long, she could tell.  Some metals would rust, the grey giving way to orange and green underwater and then slowly breaking apart until nothing was left.  This was one of them, she was almost certain.  Working the prongs back and forth, she could see that the pointed end would open or close.  But what did it do?  

She glanced up.  Wrench was still above her, peering down into the water.  Good, she hadn’t left.  Slowly, Joule swam back up, stopping again just below the surface.  Wrench dipped her hands back in, and after a moment Joule handed the metal thing back.  She trusted that whatever its use, Wrench wouldn’t hurt her.  Nothing she had done so far signaled she would.  Joule hoped she was right.

Wrench made a shushing noise, and resumed petting Joule’s hair again, her other hand snaking down to cup Joule’s chin and tilt her head up towards her.  The metal object was cold against her cheek, but Wrench did nothing with it, simply continuing to run her fingers through Joule’s hair and slide deft fingers under the straps of the thing on Joule’s face.  Satisfied by Wrench’s actions, Joule let her eyes slide shut.

The problem with the sigh-entists was that they wanted to know too much, and none of the right things.  They ripped her scales from her tail- they just shed off, if they had bothered to pay attention.  They had cut her fin- “docking” they had called it, and laughed- why?  And why couldn’t they all be like Wrench, who was gentle, who was nice, and who- who had cut off the metal thing.  Who had cut off the metal thing.

Joule’s eyes flew open and she dropped back deeper under the water, hands flying up to her face and ripping the offending contraption out of her mouth.  For the first time in ages she was able to open her mouth properly and felt the cool water rush in, stinging the sores slightly.  But it was gone.  She let the metal fall, hitting the bottom of the tank with a clang, and let out a triumphant trill in the water.  She could speak again- she could sing.

She looked back up through the water.  Wrench was still standing above, peering down into the water with a smile.  Joule darted upwards, breaking the surface of the water below Wrench, so they were nose to nose.  To Wrench’s credit, she didn’t startle back- she had accidentally done this to a sea lion who had been none too pleased- though her eyes widened slightly.

“Wirr-ench,” Joule said softly, tasting the consonants and vowels, “Wrench!”

“Wrench,” Wrench herself repeated nodding, and Joule smiled.  Now that that was out of the way…

She pushed off slightly from the side of the tank, floating backwards so Wrench could better see her.  She had to make sure Wrench understood.  Carefully, deliberately, Joule lifted her hand to her chest, and watched as Wrench’s eyes followed the movement.  This was what Wrench had done when they had met.  Hopefully she would figure it out, Wrench seemed smart enough.

“Joule,” she said, enunciating as clearly as she could in the Legged One’s speech.  She tapped her chest to drive the message home, “Joule!”

“Joule,” Wrench repeated softly, “Joule”.  In response, Joule splashed her, and the resulting laughter was even better than coast-song.

Chapter 6: if you speak, then i will move- i will run right where you are

Notes:

Chapter title from "At The Beach, In Every Life" by Gigi Perez

Joule.  4425 had a name, and it was Joule.  If Wrench weren’t still so in shock at what she had done, she probably would have been more curious about the name- what were the odds that the mermaid would have the same name as her best friend?- but as it was, her legs felt wobbly, and she gripped the side of the tank for reassurance she could hold herself upright.  She had done it.  Joule- Joule!- could talk again.  The muzzle was gone.  She was so fired.

The water had helped though.  She hadn’t expected Joule to splash her (and that might have been on her at this point), but the chill had surprised her, and she laughed, albeit a little shakily.  Still playful.  Joule froze completely at the noise, and in a flash was nose to nose with Wrench again.  Her eyes were wide and dark, and all Wrench could see.

“Wrench!” Joule said again.  She reached out, and Wrench didn’t move, waiting to see what she would do.  After a moment, a wet hand entered her hair, and began to brush it back.  Joule was petting her back.  Mimicking prior behavior.

She let the pliers she had brought drop to the floor, and Joule jerked back slightly at the sound, though her hand remained in Wrench’s hair.   Wrench could feel the water from Joule’s hand softening the hair gel.  The mermaid frowned, and suddenly her hand swept up the back of Wrench’s head, thoroughly ruffling the gel within it and causing it to stick up in all directions.  Joule laughed, that odd chittering sound.  Now with the muzzle off, it sounded closer to human laughter, which if it weren’t for the fact that Joule had been able to say her name and introduce herself, would have possibly been a sign that she could make human noises.  As it was, it just meant that Joule was a jerk.

“Thanks,” Wrench snorted, trying in vain to smooth her hair back down.  Joule’s eyes followed her arms movement as she did, reaching out to snag one of Wrench’s arms as she brought it down.  Wrench let her, waiting to see what she would do, and watched as Joule turned it this way and that.  What was so interesting about her arm? Joule had those too.

Her questions were soon answered as Joule’s searching fingers traveled to her wrist, and found the seam of her wetsuit.  She pulled it slightly, and it snapped back onto Wrench’s wrist.  Joule cocked her head curiously, then looked at Wrench. Oh. She was curious about the wetsuit.

“This is a wetsuit,” Wrench said slowly, “it keeps me warm in the water.”  Joule blinked, expression unchanging.  She didn’t understand.  Joule’s hands kept searching, feeling up Wrench’s arm along the seams of the suit until she reached Wrench’s chest.  There, she found the zipper track on the center of Wrench’s chest, then traveled up towards Wrench’s neck, until she found the zipper itself.

“That’s the zipper,” Wrench said, “it helps me get in and out of the suit.”  Joule was staring at her, still uncomprehending, so Wrench made a pulling motion to demonstrate.  Joule nodded, and before Wrench had time to react, yanked hard, harder than she had to, unzipping the suit down to Wrench’s navel and fully exposing her chest and the sports bra she had thrown on under the suit.

For a moment, the two froze, and Weench looked down to confirm that yes, that had just happened.  Then, Wrench batted Joule’s hand away, hurriedly zipping up the wetsuit again.  Joule’s eyes followed the movement.

“No,” she said to Joule, as if scolding a dog.  Joule blinked, then grinned with strange pointed teeth.  Wrench figured out what she was going to do a second before she did it.

“Joule-“ Joule dove for the zipper and managed to grab it again.  She pulled, not down this time but out, towards her and pulling Wrench closer.  Wrench managed to pry her grip from the zipper just as Joule had begun to actually pull down, hurriedly zipping up the few inches that Joule had managed to undo.

“No,” Wrench said sternly to the mermaid.  Wrench had only a moment to register that Joule was honest-to-God pouting before she found herself with a face full of water.  Joule had spit water at her.  Again.  And was laughing.  Again.

The laughter was short-lived, however.  Scarcely had Wrench finished wiping her face before the door slid open.  Which wasn’t a surprise, necessarily.  Wrench was only surprised it had taken so long for them to notice something was wrong.

The real surprise however was the sudden appearance of a wet hand, gripping her arm hard.  Wrench could feel the water sink into her suit.

“Sigh-entists,” Joule said softly.  There was nothing playful about her now, only scared.  Wrench stared at her.  There was so much to unpack there- how many words did Joule already know?  How many had she subscribed meaning to- for though Wrench was also a scientist, that was not what Joule meant.  She meant the group charging in, staying by the door but on alert: the guards, including- shit. Greaseball, the head of security.  And-

“Wrench,” said Eagle.  Wrench felt Joule’s hand on her arm tighten, and she stepped slightly to the side to block their view of Joule.

“Eagle,” Wrench returned, “What’s going on?”  She knew already, of course.  She had known coming in what the consequences might be, and the look Eagle gave her told her he was aware of that fact.

“I think you know,” said the scientist, “Not only did you sneak into a secure holding cell for our most volatile and dangerous subject, you also brought a weapon in here.”  He gestured to the pliers on the ground, and Wrench fixed him with an incredulous stare.  This was unanticipated, and absolutely pushing it.

“Pliers are not a weapon, come on,” she started, but was immediately cut off.

“When they end up buried in your jugular, I doubt you’ll care about the difference,” Greaseball interjected.  Her hand was on the taser at her waist, and she was eyeing Wrench with a look, almost as if to say try it, I dare you.

“And on top of that, you removed the muzzle- the one form of protection anyone had from its bite, which I might remind you is venomous and has already sent several of your coworkers to intensive care.  And somehow, you still thought this was a good idea.”  Eagle’s words were biting and barely restrained.

“I was-”

“Can it,” snapped Eagle, “you have no idea how bad things are about to get for you.  None.”  The way he said it gave Wrench pause.  There was a weight to those words that concerned her, far beyond getting fired.  Still, she stood her ground.

“Consider this my resignation,” she snarked.  She would come back for Joule, she would, she’d enlist Killerwatt or something, even as it felt like a betrayal to the mermaid behind her, still gripping her tightly.

“Then consider this your exit interview,”. Eagle said, and there was a definite note of glee in his voice.  Wrench glowered at him, prepared to stand her ground, but Eagle wasn’t done.

“Oh, and since you’re technically an intruder,” Eagle spoke smugly, almost as if it was an afterthought.  He was enjoying this way too much.  “Grab her.”  At his words, Greaseball clicked her fingers, and the guards began to swarm.

“Fuck you Eagle,” Wrench yelled, “you sanctimonious piece of-”  She continued calling him every name under the sun as her arms were grabbed and she was pulled away from the edge of the tank, Joule’s grip on her arm so tight that her wetsuit tore in the process.  She struggled against the guards, of course, but she was no match for so many.  Finally, presumably fed up with both Wrench’s fight and name calling, Greaseball grabbed a dart gun from a nearby guard and jabbed her in the stomach with it, knocking the wind out of her.  She doubled over in the guards’ grasp, gasping for air.

“Wrench!” Came a call, frantic and desperate, and Wrench looked to the voice, even as she fought to breath.  It was Joule, eyes wide in fright and tail beating furiously in the water- so furiously that it splashed over the sides.

“Cuff her,” came Greaseball’s order, and Wrench’s arms were forced behind her back, metal cuffs closing over them with a final-sounding click.

“Wrench!” Joule cried again, and then did something unexpected.  The mermaid grasped the side of her tank, and before anyone could react, hoisted herself up and over the tank’s edge with startling strength.  By the time she touched the floor, her tail was gone, having morphed into her legs.  Wrench knew from reading Joule’s file that this wasn’t supposed to be possible- Joule’s legs only ever appeared after she had been out of water for extended periods of time, and never under her control.  But this- it was clear this was intentional, as Joule straightened up.  Still dripping, Joule dashed forward towards Wrench, heedless of the others in the room.

It was immediate chaos.  Wrench found herself suddenly released as the guards scrambled backwards, ripping out dart guns and getting ready to aim.  They needn’t have worried, however- Joule only had eyes for Wrench.  In a flash, Wrench found herself tackled to the floor as Joule grabbed and scrambled over her.  The mermaid curled up as best she could over Wrench- she was trying to protect her, Wrench realized, and felt a pang at the realization.  Joule had been captured and ruthlessly experimented on, and she was still trying to protect her.

“Don’t shoot, you’re too close!” Roared Eagle, “Do not fire, I repeat, do not fire!”  Joule was growling again, snarling at anyone in the vicinity as she held Wrench tight.  Suddenly, she tensed, and thrashed, letting out a howl of pain. Her arms began to loosen, though it did not seem to be from her own control- and, as Greaseball roughly hauled Joule off of her, Wrench could see that it wasn’t.  A discarded syringe lay off to the side, empty.  Greaseball had sedated her, and Joule, preoccupied with protecting Wrench, had not been able to stop her.

Joule was dropped next to Wrench, and so close she could see the mermaid's eyes fluttering as she fought the drug now racing in her veins.  Joule’s eyes met hers, blinking rapidly and full of fear.  Wrench couldn’t reach out, handcuffed as she was, so instead she squirmed as close to Joule as she could.  She curled close to Joule’s side, and Joule tilted her head slightly towards her- all she could manage.

“Wrench,” Joule breathed sleepily, softer than a whisper.  Then, her eyes fell shut, the sedative finally winning out.  

Silence fell within the room, the only sounds the steady drip of water from the edge of the tank and the shuffle of guards as they began to put their weapons away.  Wrench only had eyes for Joule, even as Greaseball motioned for the guards to get Wrench on her knees again, a hand pressing down on her neck to keep her from moving.  She wished Killerwatt were here- he might have been able to help her talk some sense into the others.  God, she wished he was, if only to have a friendly face right now.

“Deliberate transformation,” mused Eagle, consideringly, “it’s never done that before.”  He had a calculating look on his face, one that Wrench decidedly did not like.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Wrench said, voice trembling with barely contained rage, “she wasn’t hurting anyone-“

“It grabbed you and was displaying signs of aggression towards my team, I was perfectly justified,” said Greaseball, crossing her arms, “and I would be more concerned with yourself right about now.”  Her piece said, she turned away from Wrench, towards Eagle.

“What do you want my guys to do with it?” Greaseball asked, gesturing at Joule, prone on the ground,  “Toss it back into its tank, or…”  Eagle sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.  Wrench wanted to hit him with a baseball bat. Repeatedly.

“No, we’ll grab it, it was about time for testing anyway.”  He crossed to the door and inputted his code.  The door slid open, allowing Orange Flash and Silver Bullet into the room, the pair wheeling a gurney.  Silver Bullet ignored Wrench completely, moving to the unconscious Joule, but Orange Flash spared her a glance. Their face was twisted in a mixture of concern and guilt.

“Don’t,” Wrench begged, praying that Flash would be sympathetic.

“Shut up,” snapped Eagle, “you’re in enough trouble as it is.”  It was no use.  Flash looked nervously at Eagle, who glared, and turned back to Bullet, who was busy instructing some of the guards to lift Joule.

Joule was deposited on a gurney, arms and legs quickly cuffed to its rails, and wheeled out the doors in to the hall.  Wrench could see there were others out there- Arrow, who had likely opted not to come in due to his arm and- oh god.  Killerwatt was standing out there, face confused and clearly being prevented from entering by another black-clad security guard.  Wrench could see the moment he spotted her- his eyes widened and his confusion became concern, especially as Joule was wheeled past.  He tried to start forward but was stopped again, the guard’s arm flying out in the universal signal of you shall not pass.  Then the door swung shut again, and Wrench was left kneeling on the floor of the room, surrounded but completely alone. 

“And her?” Greaseball asked, hauling Wrench to her feet.  Eagle glared down at Wrench, but said nothing for a moment.  He couldn’t, Wrench realized- he didn’t actually have the authority to make any decisions, especially given everything that had just happened.

“Put her in a holding cell,” Eagle finally said tensely, “I need to make some calls.”  He stepped closer to Wrench, leaning down so his face was all she could see.

“Consider your resignation refused.”

Chapter 7: anything you say can and will be held against you- so only say my name, it will be held against you

Notes:

Chapter title from "Just One Yesterday" by Fall Out Boy

When Joule woke up, she was in Hel.  

Or at least, that’s what humans called it- the worst place in the world.  She was there.

It was a well known fact that mermaids were not designed to withstand exceedingly hot temperatures for extended periods of time.  They were made for the cold and the chill, for high pressure and lightless depths and the bone deep chill that came with it.  It was one of the main reasons why they did not go on land often- the combined dry air and warmer temperatures (especially in more central locations) were difficult to manage in: uncomfortable at best, downright painful at worst, drying out skin or scales and causing one to overheat quickly.

The room Joule woke up in was in was one designed specifically for this purpose: she called the Hot Room.  It was empty except for the table she was restrained upon, and the ceiling was covered in grey metal lights that turned red and hot when they were activated.  The walls were a featureless dark grey, and one wall had a strange reflective rectangle on it that showed a copy of the room, making it look bigger than it actually was.  She knew what was to come, and used what little strength she had to strain against the metal bonds that cut into her wrists and ankles.  Nothing.  Either she was still too weak, or the sigh-entists had finally learned to make them stronger.  Unfortunately, chances were good it was both.

She suddenly became aware of someone standing above her, and Joule blinked, trying to clear her vision to see who it was.

“Wrench?” She asked blearily, craning her head, but as her vision solidified she saw that it was not her, but the angry man.  The angry man who had hurt Wrench, and smiled with so many teeth to do so.  She jolted up immediately, trying to bite him despite her drowsiness, but he was too quick, catching her head and slamming it back down onto the table, stunning her so hard she saw stars.  Then hands suddenly on her, affixing the sticky pads and wires to her face, and further down, across various points on her chest.  More bindings too: rough black straps across her chest and stomach, hips and knees.  She squirmed, and found her movement now further restricted.  

She heard words from the angry man next, in a harsh tone as the last strap was tightened.  Another face entered her vision: the other one, the shorter sigh-entist, staring down at her.  They had an odd look on their face, not harsh or excited like the angry man, more… sad.  Upset? They reached out towards her cheek with trembling fingers, but stopped as she eyed them, thinking better of it.  For the best, really- she probably would have tried to bite their fingers off had they come any closer.  Only Wrench was allowed to touch her, and they weren’t her.  But maybe…

“Wrench?” Joule asked them quietly, pleading.  What had happened to her?  She had seen her on the floor- she had failed to protect her.  Was Wrench hurt?  Were they going to put her in a Hot Room too?  But the sigh-entist only shook their head, and turned away.

She felt something poured onto the table she lay on, near her feet but traveling up her body.  It tickled a bit, then itched.  Water, she realized, but it was strange.  Fresh, and too warm, and only a little bit of it, not nearly enough to swim, or anything.

“Wrench?” She asked the sigh-entists again, growing more desperate as she craned her neck as far as she could to see the two figures.  The shorter one stared at her, but the angry man barked something harsh, and together they left the room.  The door slammed shut, leaving Joule alone in the shallow pool of water.

She lay there, mind swirling.  Where was Wrench?  What had happened to her?  Had they given her something too, and left her on a table in another room?   She struggled again, but her strength failed her: she was stuck fast to the table, and could only wait.  She turned towards the strange reflective panel in the room, but saw only her own face staring back at her.  There was nothing to help her here, and she sighed, resigned to the situation.  Perhaps when what she had been given wore off more.  Then, she could try again.  Hopefully soon.  And then maybe she could find Wrench.

Except… there was a humming noise now, coming from up above.  The lights.  They were slowly turning from grey to orange, and Joule could feel the faint heat on her skin already.  It always started like this, and for a few minutes Joule could do nothing, simply brace for the unbearable heat that was soon to come.

But then, something changed.  The water… it was getting hotter.  Much, much faster than her skin- much faster than everything had ever heated up before.  Was this why they had put water in here this time?  She squirmed, trying to get away, but the straps held her fast- she was stuck in rapidly heating water, and the metal bonds around her wrists and ankles were hot to the point of unbearable.  She could see the white vapor floating off of it too- like the steam from the hot springs she and Volta visited every once in a while.  But this was different- she couldn’t get away from it, like she could if she overheated in one of the springs or near a thermal vent.  It was too much.  But what could she do?  She was trapped- and she was alone.

“Wrench!” She yelled. Wrench was the only one who would listen, the only one who would care.  The only one who could possibly stop this from happening.

But Wrench wasn't here- she didn’t know where Wrench was, or even if she was alright.  Maybe she had been stuck in a Hot Room too, or something just as bad.  Maybe she was in even worse trouble than Joule was, and the thought hurt worse than the water against her skin, already beginning to burn and redden.

“Wrench,” she cried uselessly, thrashing against the bindings, “Wrench!”

But Wrench never came.

Notes:

never been happier with how literal a chapter title can be taken lol