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The colony used to call him a miracle child.
Not that he had any understanding of what that meant until he was older. But they would bring him into their circles, praise the jewelry they dawned on him, sung songs about his tail and another that he wouldn’t meet until his fins touched dry sand for the first time.
He hated that.
Hated how his mother sneered at him at night, alone in their own cave and off from the pod. How she stared at him and spat the words 'miracle’ back out, but he never knew what made him so different, never understood why his mother hated him for it.
How she pulled scales off his tail when he spoke too loudly. How she shoved him against a rock pillar one night, a little too hard, so his dorsal fin never grew correctly.
How he always felt like he was missing another part of him.
The other fact, one he doesn’t want to face - is that once he found the other piece of himself.
He pushed him away.
-
“We have another sighting.”
Sitting at his desk, Aaron Minyard jolts at the low voice that echoes through the speakers overhead. Blinking frantically, he rubs his eyes with the back of his hand, staring down at the scales he was supposed to be testing but had fallen asleep on instead. The golden things were small and fragile, easily damaged and now definitely contaminated with another set of merfolk DNA.
“Fuck.” He cursed, he really had to stop staying up all night talking to Katelyn.
“All staff, please report to headquarters. We have an emergency meeting. I repeat - all staff-”
The voice rings through the air again and Aaron winces, finally shoving himself to his feet and leaving his project behind. Wymack could skin him later - whatever, it wasn’t like they could fire him.
Aaron had been with the Foxes for a little over a year now, all thanks to his cousin and his loud mouth.
Nicky was human, on all accounts, it was common for merfolk to bear children with humans and the result was always the same. No fin, no tail, no scales except for a weird pull to the ocean and an absent parent. Nicky wasn’t aware of his father’s family ties, until he met Aaron for the first time at thirteen when he had first pulled himself onto the shore.
Aaron had been sent to live six years with the Hemmicks on land, and in the end, it happened to be Nicky who would stick out past it all.
Past Andrew.
Past the murder.
Shaking his head, Aaron jogged up the stairs of the sanctuary, past the aquarium, past the lab rooms, and up to Wymack’s head office.
The Foxhole Rehabilitation was run by a ‘mad man’ according to the surrounding people living in the small ocean side city of Palmetto. David Wymack had opened the Rehabilitation on his own, dedicating his life to helping save the aqualife of the ocean even the ones that the general public doesn’t know of.
Merpeople, merfolk, fish humans - whatever the fuck you wanted to call them.
In the end, it was the same, David Wymack was one of the few people on Earth who worked solely in the protection and research of Merpeople. Aaron had thought it was bullshit, but after Nicky had brought him here, it somehow ended up becoming their new home.
Maybe even a family.
The Foxes crew was small but mighty, first there was Dan Wymack-Wilds, the adoptive daughter of Wymack who took charge of the crew and was head of the rescue team. Aaron still remembered when he had first met her and she had almost crushed his hand in how strong her grip was when they shook hands for the first time.
And wherever Dan was, Matt Boyd wasn’t far behind. Apparently, like most of the kids working under Wymack, his family had gotten intertwined with the merpeoples world, Boyd’s mother worked closely to uncover the truth and reality about who merpeople really were - but everything fell through the cracks when Matt’s father took the gathered information and ran. Now Matt worked with Wymack, because after realizing that something so close to magic exists, he guesses it’s difficult for humans to leave it behind. All of this snowballed into Matt meeting Dan and the two falling in love or whatever - Aaron never got the full story of how he and Dan had ended up together, but Nicky assures him that it was magical. Either way, Aaron had always found the way humans interact with each other fascinating and if anyone was a similar match to how merfolk treat their mates, Matt and Dan really were the closest anyone was going to get. Matt was smart, a large man, and has a goofy smile to top it off, Aaron would never admit it to anyone but Matt might be his favourite out of the men working here.
Sure enough, as Aaron slipped into Wymack’s office, the three were the first he could see. Wymack sat at his desk, with Dan and Matt flanking him. Matt turned to greet Aaron with a smile, who slowly made his way to the table in the middle of the room.
“What’s going on.” He asked, shrugging off his lab coat and letting it hang off the back of the chair.
“Kevin’s getting a signal over by Edgar Island, says it might be serious.” Dan responds, and Aaron tries to keep the surprise off of his face.
Because one, Kevin, and two, Ravens.
Edgar Island was owned by the Moryiamas and that made it Ravens’ land, and anything to do with the Ravens meant bad news. The last time Aaron had an encounter with anyone associated with that name, he had come away a killer and an outcast.
The Raven’s worked under the same disguise as the Foxes, except once they got the merfolk in their grasp - no one ever saw them again.
From the brief comments Kevin said, or the way he still stared at Aaron like he was an animal instead of human… well, it wasn’t difficult to imagine what happened.
So to Aaron, Raven = dead merpeople.
This was also why Aaron hated Kevin Day, because Kevin Day was an ex-Raven, turned Fox, who only brought more Raven shit into Aaron’s life who very much wanted to avoid it. But, out of anyone here, besides Dan, Aaron knows Wymack would never throw Kevin out because against all odds, Kevin had come to them a year ago and told them that he was Wymack’s biological son - and that gave him the right to join up with the crew.
It had been fine for everyone else, but sometimes Kevin would stare at Aaron like he wasn’t human, not even close, perhaps something more close to an animal micking human form.
He wasn’t a fool, everyone knew what the Ravens did to merpeople, and Kevin was raised in the middle of it all.
“So it’s more Raven shit right?” Aaron says and Dan sighs,
“We dunno yet, that’s where everyone else is. Seth’s been trying to clear up one of the images coming through their feed.”
Aaron nods, trying to ignore the weird feeling spreading in his gut.
“Where’s Katelyn?” He tries again, attempting to appear nonchalant about it but Matt catches his eyes with a grin, waggling an eyebrow in his direction.
“Sure she’s with them loverboy ,” Matt teases, “Though I’m surprised she isn’t with you.”
Aaron huffs, eyes darting away and he hopes he can keep the blush out of his cheeks. He isn’t a stranger to messing around with human girls, it was the weak spot he had for humanity, and for pretty eyes and long legs. But somehow one girl stuck.
That was Katelyn Wiess.
Though Aaron doesn’t get the chance to go deeper into that thought because the door to Wymack’s office is shoved open, Kevin Day followed by the rest of their ragtag group coming stumbling in.
Instantly his stomach drops.
He sees the twisted anger and confusion of Kevin’s face, but that isn’t what worries him, it’s Nicky’s.
He looks like he’s seen a ghost, his face gaunt and the usual flush red in his brown skin is absent. Immediately Aaron makes his way to stumble to his feet to get to his cousin and ask him what the fuck happened but Kevin is there first, hand fisting into his shoulder and green eyes blazing.
Aaron swallows his disgust at the expression, because he knows what that look is.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Kevin rasps, “Why did you never tell us!”
Panic floods him, there are a million things Aaron will never tell them, “Tell you what? What the fuck is going on?”
Kevin opens his mouth to answer but Nicky beats him to it.
“It’s Andrew,” He chokes out, “Aaron, it’s Andrew.”
Aaron’s blood goes cold, ice sticking in his veins, because that, that is something he never told the Foxes. He never spoke about the brother he lost two years ago, the one who made him crawl onto land and back into Nicky’s safety.
The one who died.
During this all, Seth had been fumbling with a cord to attach to the iPad in his hand, pulling up a grainy photo that was obviously taken by a drone, moments away of it being ripped to shreds by the clawed hand in the photo.
Something deep within him snaps.
Because there is no one else that it could be, those black scales and golden eyes haunt Aaron everytime he closes his eyes. His brother, his twin, his other half, the part of him he had missed his entire childhood and the part of him that refused to connect properly like the rest.
Andrew, who Aaron had thought died out at sea.
Andrew, who Aaron was sure he would never see again.
“How-” Aaron whispers, “How old is that photo?”
“Taken about five minutes ago,” Seth says, “And I’d say he looks pretty damn close to you Aaron, is that a fish man thing?”
No, it’s a twin thing. He was the miracle.
Nicky pulls his hands away from his mouth, eyes brimmed with tears. “You said he was dead.”
“I thought he was!” Aaron snaps, heart hammering against his chest, “That’s what the Hunt said! That he died in the Atlantic in battle, just how we always thought he fucking would.”
Andrew is alive, Andrew is alive, Andrew is alive and he didn’t come back for me.
“Maybe he got lost,” That’s Katelyn now, stepping forward and wrapping a hand around his shoulder in the ghost allusion of comfort, “The ocean is a massive place.”
Katelyn , Aaron thinks bitterly, Katelyn is the only other person who knew besides Nicky.
Katelyn, the first person to see him more than just a merperson.
Katelyn, the person he was sure if she was a mermaid, would be his true mate.
Katelyn, someone who he knows for a fucking fact, his brother would despise.
“He should be dead.” Aaron repeats again, watching the pitying glances of the Foxes turn to him. He hates them all, he hates how it always ends up like this, with Aaron chasing after his untouchable brother.
Wymack clears his throat, “So this is your brother Aaron? When was the last time you had contact with him?”
“Two years ago, he left with the Hunt on our twentieth birthday.”
“So you don’t have to.” Is what Andrew had said, “Go play with your humans.”
“He won’t have long, this photo was taken off of a Raven’s drone.” Seth interjects, “I tried to get more information but the Moriyamas have had crazy lockout systems since our last breach.”
“Why would Andrew even be involved with the Moryiamas?” Nicky cries, his face has gone blotchy and tears are trailing down his face, “Are they going to kill him?”
“If he has something they want and he is in the way, then yes.” Kevin responds without hesitation, “As for what he has done, I was hoping you could enlighten us.” The last part was directed at Aaron, everyone’s eyes turning back to him.
“I just told you, I haven’t seen him in two fucking years! I don’t know.”
“We don’t have time for this!” Dan shouts, “The Ravens have already dispatched, correct? We need a crew out there, someone get the boat and gear ready, Aaron, do you think you can talk your brother into coming with us?”
Fucking could he? Would Andrew even trust him now? Was that even the same Andrew in that cave?
Would Aaron even be able to shift?
“I can try.”
“You never told us about Andrew, Aaron.” Kevin says, eyes shifting over, “Why?”
“I don’t owe you shit,” Aaron snaps, trying to keep the urge to vomit down as the rest of the Foxes begin rushing around them. Kevin keeps staring at Aaron, before glancing over to the photo projected in front of them.
“He has something. The Ravens wouldn’t be after him unless he has something that they want. What would your brother want?”
“Nothing! He never fucking wanted anything!” Aaron moves away, shoving past Nicky who makes a pathetic grab from him. But Aaron can’t face him now, his breath coming out in wheezes.
He almost completely makes it out of the room before Wymack is there, hand wrapping around his shoulder as he gently pulls him back.
“Aaron, we’ll get him back okay? I can’t imagine how you feel right now, but I promise we will do everything in our power to get him back here safely.”
Wymack’s voice is call and steady, as it always is. Aaron never had a father, but he thinks that maybe Wymack is close to what one is supposed to be. He tries to find solace in his words, he tries to imagine actually going and finding Andrew and bringing him back.
His imagine comes back fuzzy, the memories of the years they lived on land together, the years they spent in high school, learning how to be human together, the memory of breaking into Andrew’s adoptive family home and finding him pinned to the bed with a monster on top of him, the memory of killing another of his kind without regret.
Being casted out by Luther, huddling together on the street before Andrew dragged him to the front door of Nicky’s apartment. The years they spent together, getting closer, even if Andrew had walls so high, even if Andrew scared away every girl he brought home.
Even when they went back to sea together, leaving Nicky on the shore with promise to return. Working together to find their place in a massive colony, Andrew even finding them a home, Andrew taking the brunt of the hardships.
How Aaron used that, how he snuck away to crawl back onto land and run with fucking humans again. How he would leave weeks at a time because humanity always felt more like home than being at sea. How he went home with different girls, and returned back to his brother at sea only when he got bored. How Andrew chased the girls away and Aaron snapped.
How Andrew never came back home.
Aaron hears Wymack walk away from behind him when he doesn’t respond. He doesn’t bother to turn and watch, he can hear the Foxes talking, making plans to save a complete stranger just because he looks like Aaron. He can hear Nicky’s quiet sobs, he can hear his own heart squeeze.
He doesn’t know how to tell them he isn’t sure if Andrew will even try to listen to him now.
-
If it wasn’t for Katelyn, Aaron thinks he might have gone crazy by now.
He’s no stranger to having sexual relationships with humans, and that was all Katelyn was supposed to be. Another pretty face for him to lose himself in, and then leave, it wasn’t like he could get close to anyone - his life, his species, was so different.
But, when Nicky took him to Wymack, telling him there were people who understood merpeople. Aaron hadn’t expected to meet Katelyn.
Daughter of two famous researchers, she grew up around merpeople, spoke to them, got to know them. She had left to continue their research, when she got old enough to understand what was happening around her and that was how she ended up under Wymack.
And that was how she found Aaron.
When he first arrived, Katelyn had watched him from the corner of her eye, she never approached him and brushed off any attempt Aaron made at speaking to her.
He wasn’t used to it, all of the volunteers who worked at the Rehabilitation and any other girls who weren’t directly a part of the main crew were draping themselves over Aaron. Once someone found out he was a merperson, it wasn’t difficult to use it to his advantage.
But Katelyn didn’t care, didn’t give two shits.
It wasn’t until they began working together in the lab that they finally spoke, that Katelyn was the first person to see Aaron as Aaron, and gently pried him open.
Sometimes at night, not that he would ever tell a soul, he wonders if his true mate was a human all along. Maybe that explained why the sea never felt like home.
If he could shift, and she could too, if she would be the one he was supposed to be with, the one the moon bid for him to find.
It was moments like these, that he realizes how far they’ve come. Katelyn sitting next to him as the Foxes are sped out to sea, hauling on their scuba diving gear and Dan yelling out orders to Seth who was still trying to hack the Raven’s database, Allison hanging over his shoulder and pointing things out alongside.
Beside him Katelyn holds a small smile on her face, but lines of worry crease her forehead as they always do on missions like these. Aaron still feels like he’s going to vomit as each minute they get closer to the Ravens and closer to Andrew
“Are you ready?” She asks quietly, tucking a stray hair behind her ear, watching Aaron careful as the water laps against the boat.
Aaron shrugs, unsure of himself and how he feels, eyeing the ocean below and trying to sense any pull within himself.
“It’s been awhile, I haven’t even been in the ocean since…” He trails off, more memories bubbling to life of Andrew’s cold face, and his mother’s cruel hands. “Since I thought he died.”
Katelyn hums in understanding under her breath, “We’re going to bring him home.” She reaches down and tangles their fingers together, giving them a tight squeeze before laying her head on his shoulder.
“He’s going to hate you.” Aaron adds, if not bitterly, “He hated humans, especially the ones I fucked off with.”
Katelyn giggles, “I think I would’ve hated them too had I met them,” She shifts, reaching a hand up to cup his jaw and angle him to face her, “Don’t worry about that shit right now Aaron, any of it. First things first, is we bring him home alive and then we work on fixing our emotional issues later.”
Aaron looks away, “That’s going to take awhile.”
“Good thing we have that.”
“Hey lovebirds! No time for this, we’re as close as we can get by boat, it’s time to shift merboy!” Seth yells into the earpiece clipped to his ear. Katelyn sighs, grabbing something from her pocket and pressing it into Aaron’s hand. Glancing down he sees the wire-like clip and frowns.
“It’s a translator, you know when I was asking you the basics of your language? Allison and I were working on this, it’s still pretty basic but you can speak to us through our heads commons underwater like you usually would and we’ll be able to understand what you’re saying. If you’re close enough to Andrew we could pick that up too.”
Aaron swallows back the lump in his throat, before dropping down and pressing his lips to hers.
“You’re so fucking smart.” He says, and Katelyn rolls her eyes, pushing him away.
“Go on now, shift, Dan, Matt and Kevin will be in shortly after you.”
Right, he had to go alone. Aaron could get past the Raven’s detection system, but the moment any of the Foxes pass in their suits, they would light up. After that, it’s a time game.
Aaron sighs and presses one last fleeting kiss to Katelyn. She gives him a sad smile, before turning and ducking back into the cabin of the boat to give him privacy as he begins stripping.
Each article of clothing makes his anxiety spike, he wishes he had gotten the chance to talk to Nicky since before they left. Nicky always stayed home to man homebase, but now he was beginning to regret not explaining himself more.
Nicky may not have spent as much time with Andrew but he mourned alongside him all the same.
Letting out one last shaky breath, his heart thudding painfully against his chest he presses his fingers against the edge of boast. Slipping his eyes closed he tries to summon up the courage of the ocean and the moon again, letting his mind slip back into before.
Lose your respect for your makers, you lose your ability to become part of them. The biggest rule to any merfolk - a curse that permantely landed his uncle and countless others.
It was time to find out if he would be following family tradition.
Moon god and the sea, I ask you to give me the gift to swim among you again.
It had taken him a few tries to get it right the first time he had shifted, and Aaron almost expected it not to work - but before Aaron can even try again, a low swooping in his stomach and a full body ache slams into him and he’s scrambling to throw himself overboard.
As he crashes into the chilling water, he watches his legs melt away into a very old, and a very familiar grey tail. It glints off of the sun as he hesitantly kicks it to propel himself deeper into the murky depths.
Faintly, from somewhere above he hears whooping, and cheering. The highest of them all being Katelyn as he makes out her silhouette catching the edge of the boat to watch him sink.
He still doesn’t understand how she can stay there, watching, watching him turn into this but he’s still endlessly grateful for it.
It’s now, as he’s sinking, that Aaron opens his mouth to breath and chokes on the onslaught of water. Fuck, it had been so long, he spins to centre himself and unused muscles spasm at his sides. The world is disoriented and he’s completely alone except for the hounding water surrounding him.
Though, finally, on instinct, the gills on his sides open and his useless lungs stop burning in his chest. Eyes filter over with the same webbing, hands tied together as he paddles the water around him.
Distinctly, in his mind, no matter how hard he tries to ignore it - it still quietly whispers home.
“You okay in there Aaron?” Matt’s voice crackles over the earpiece and Aaron almost opens his mouth to respond before remembering.
A merfolks mother tongue is the same for everyone, it sounds closer to dolphins communicating to humans than anything else, seeming it impossible to use vocal cords underwater, but he wonders how the translator will fair with it. It is an easier adjustment to return though, since he’s been using his language with Katelyn, but it still feels weird, listening to how it echoes into the nothing surrounding.
“Fine, heading west to the island.”
A few moments pass before Matt’s voice returns, “Copy that!”
With that, Aaron ducks down and lets himself swim for the first time in so long, feeling the water glide along his skin, feeling the way he’s so much more like this. So many different working parts that help him float down to the coral reefs below.
It takes him five minutes to track down Andrew.
Smell travels farther in water, and it doesn’t take long for him to pick up the scent of him. It hits him like a punch, a heartbreaking one as it filters by.
Now he can smell it everywhere, the faint echo of his brother he could never really forget. Splattered amongst the rocks and ground, the water gets deeper at a sudden decline. Faintly, he can see the flickering image of a boat not far, weapons lined along the black side. A speargun being clicked back into place and the hazy shadows of men in black watching over the edge.
Something drops into the water, Aaron shoots back, ducking away as the drone-like figure spins past and makes its way towards the small tunnel nestled in the drop off cliff.
That’s when he hears Andrew.
The thing was, merpeople had their different ways of defence, some use their claws and teeth, other’s their tails. But all of them have their voice - a bone chilling snarl and hiss that would make anyone’s skin crawl.
Some merpeople really were all bark and no bite - but Aaron knew his brother.
The drone didn’t make it far, the sound of tearing metal and deadly snarls filters through the water, before it flies back out of the cave- letting the scraps float back up to the boat waiting above.
At least he’s there. Aaron tries to reason. But something isn’t right, Andrew should be able to just swim away, it doesn’t make sense for him to be hiding out. Not like this. Andrew, for as long as Aaron has known him, isn’t one to duck and hide.
“We’re gonna head in soon, Aaron. Ravens are on high alert.” Kevin’s voice filters through, Aaron swallows back his panic, “Are you in position to make contact with the target?”
He’s about to reply when he hears it.
A faint sound of a clicking noise, a purr, something so unlike Andrew his head spins into the direction in alarm. He sees a small patch of dying coral stretch out and cover the mouth of the opening, the cave, or small parting on the side of the drop off. He doesn’t need to strain his eyes to see the blood coating the sides, and the one lonely black scale that floats to the sand below.
“Aaron.” Kevin repeats again, irritation covers his tone.
Aaron clamps a hand around his other shaking one, breathe, breathe, breathe.
“Going in.”
-
Aaron barely ducks into the cave, his senses filling with the scent of blood, death and his family, before he’s being slammed into the jagged rocks of the side. Aaron cries out in shock, feeling claws sink into his skin without mercy and the animalistic snarls of the beast in front of him. He doesn’t need to open his eyes to know that it is Andrew, he could sense his brother from miles away, but the agony shooting across his body doesn’t compute with the understanding that it is Andrew inflicting them onto him.
He never thought they would come to this.
“Andrew,” He croaks, the mother tongue of his language that he hasn’t spoken to another merfolk in so long barely comes out clean enough, it does nothing to help calm the enraged merman. “Andrew, it’s me, it’s Aaron.”
He wonders what that would even mean to Andrew now, he wonders if those few years they spent together growing and learning, means anything in the face of what happened.
If the fact he spilt blood for him, killed, got exiled by his family, for him. If any of that even matters to Andrew now.
For a heartstopping moment, Aaron thinks it really doesn’t, that whatever has happened has taken Andrew so far away, had clouded his mind so much, that he plans to kill Aaron here in cold blood.
Cracking an eye open, he sees only a glimpse of Andrew’s face. A cut slashed across his cheek, scales torn free from his skin, and eyes clouded with rage that only clear for a moment when they meet Aaron’s matching ones.
It’s small, but it’s enough and Andrew snarls, before hurtling himself back. Aaron drops, the salt stinging as it enters the now exposed wounds, Andrew sinks further back into the cave, golden eyes like a burning inferno as they watch Aaron helplessly regain his balance.
The cave is narrow, and Aaron finds that he’s been shoved into the mouth of it, the area reeks of blood, and old bones of dead fish have built up in the corner. Aaron has had a rough idea how long Andrew’s supposedly been stuck down here, but he knows for sure it’s longer than he originally guessed.
“Andrew.” He whispers, and perhaps too much pity sinks into his tone because his brother hisses in response.
“What are you doing here?” Andrew snarls, his words are so cold and twisted it reminds Aaron of the first time they met. Then, Andrew had been protecting him from Drake, now, Aaron has no idea what Andrew is trying to shield him from.
Two years, he thinks, two years, and these are the first words we speak to each other.
What have you done brother.
“I’m here to help you,” Aaron musters up, wincing as he shifts his arm. Andrew doesn’t seem to care, besides the fact he was the one who inflicted it, eyes staying firmly locked on to him. “The group attacking you is the Ravens, and they aren’t pulling out until they get whatever you hav-”
Andrew interrupts immediately, “I know it’s the Ravens.”
Aaron tries to cover his disbelief, these were not things they learned on land, these were not things that Luther had known. There is no reason for Andrew to know them either.
Where have you been?
“How do you know about the Ravens? What did you do Andrew? Why are they after you?” He asks, trying to move forward but halting the moment Andrew stiffens, eyes narrowed into slits as he scoffs.
“Why are you actually here Aaron?” He counters.
It takes Aaron a breathless moment before he realizes what Andrew is insulating, he stares blankly at the merman before him. Dorsal fin flared, body posed to strike, toxic gold burning into him and ears pinned to the back of his head. Andrew has somehow bulked up more over the years, they don’t look like twins anymore, their lives weathering them beyond comparison.
Andrew sees him as a threat. If Aaron makes one wrong move he has so doubt that his brother will gut him alive.
The rage he had felt earlier bubbles back to life, everything, everything they’ve gone through really means nothing .
“Are you accusing me of using you, Andrew? Of betraying you like that,” Aaron’s fins flare, “You’re the one who is supposed to be dead.”
For a second, Andrew looks confused at the words, before his expression returns to aggression. His body coiling tighter in the already tight corridors, causing the small pool of sand beneath him to puff out. The small grain floats down between them and that’s when Aaron’s eyes catch on something red, something large that Andrew has curled his entire form around. Large fins spread over top to conceal as much of the body as possible but it’s impossible to miss once Aaron sees it.
Another merperson.
At the same time, Andrew seems to realize what Aaron has noticed, black tail curls tighter around the body and a low growl slips from his gut. Something so instinctual, so deeply rooted in their biology that Aaron almost can’t believe that it is Andrew doing this. Andrew who despised doing anything his instincts told him too.
“Leave, Aaron. This is no place for you.” Andrew snaps.
“I’m here with the Foxes, Andrew. I’m here to save you, again, I’m fucking digging you out of more shit you got yourself into.”
“Leave.”
The form under Andrew makes a noise, something almost akin to a protest. Aaron’s eyes snap to the webbed hand that reaches out and presses again Andrew’s chest, trying to grasp onto him. Instantly Andrew’s eyes are snapping down and his own hand reaching up to clasp onto it.
That’s when Aaron spots it.
The other part of the missing puzzle, a slot clicking in place in his mind and completely smothers the rage that had begun bubbling to life.
There is a red scale hooked around Andrew’s neck, that floats outward and catches on the fading sun rays sneaking through the mouth of the cavern.
A red scale matching the scales hidden under Andrew’s mass.
A mating scale.
-
“True mates? What a load of fucking bullshit.” Andrew scoffs, legs raised on Aaron’s bed, eyes casted outward. “So what, you fuck someone and you lose a scale over it? And that’s supposed to mean you stay with them forever? Fuck that.”
Aaron shrugs, “I dunno, I think it’s kinda cool, if it’s real. It makes me kinda excited to return back home if it means I can start looking for her. Like, usually merfolk never meet them, their true mate, could you imagine how it must feel if you actually did? Meet the mermaid the moon literally wants you to mate with forever? Have a family with?”
Andrew looks away, sucking in a sharp breath and shaking his head. He fiddles with the cuff of his jeans with more agitation than usual, which is saying something, because his brother was always angry.
“I’d kill them.” Andrew declares, kicking his leg back to the ground “It’s not like anyone would want me anyways, so I’d kill them to prove to the moon or whatever the fuck, that it’s just a bunch of stupid fucking fish instincts.”
“Andrew,” Aaron says, “You know what a true mate is though right? It’s a mermaid that would be made to match you. A mermaid who literally-”
Aaron never got the chance to finish his sentence because Andrew scoffed again, rolling his eyes and standing up.
“Yeah, fuck that. Trust me, I’m sure I’ll have no problem killing her.”
“Andrew!” Aaron shouts, but his twin never bothered to expand on it, instead getting up and storming out of Aaron’s room and to never speak about true mates ever again.
-
You found her. He thinks, you actually fucking found her.
Now the snarling, venomous words, the anger, the distrust, the carelessness to why Aaron is even here, it starts to make sense.
Aaron is breaking in, of course he won’t trust him. Rule number two, never split a merperson from their mate.
He found his true mate.
“You never stole anything from the Moriyama's.” Aaron realizes out loud, eyes shifting to watch Andrew freeze, “They were after her.”
That’s why he couldn’t leave, because he isn’t just watching out for himself.
The red tail beneath him is hanging limpy across Andrew’s, a stark contrast to the black one holding it, weakening hand still trying to pull Andrew either towards them or away.
“You’ve been protecting her this entire time.”
Andrew blinks, confusion and rage are becoming merged into one before a new voice joins them both.
“Go.” It’s cracked, shacky, and so weak that Aaron can hardly hear it, but unmistakable, Andrew’s mate utters the words go.
“No.” Andrew says just as quickly, “I’m not leaving you.”
“You have too, ‘Drew.” The voice tries again, Aaron tries to make it out better, “Your family is here, go.”
Andrew shifts, and Aaron gets a flash of red hair before the form is covered again by Andrew’s shoulder. This time he can’t hear what the mermaid is saying, but Andrew is growing frantic, it shows the tension in his body, the quiet noises leaving his chest. Aaron can smell the blood that is staining the water around them and the sand below,
Both of them know that she isn’t going to last for much longer, whatever happened, the Ravens hit something vital.
Aaron swallows, watching his brother fold over the form of a lifeless merfolk and knowing that it might very well be the reason Aaron had to mourn the death of his brother for the past two years.
On the same hand, it doesn’t matter, not right now. Not with the boats waiting for Andrew to lose the waiting game in the cave with his dying mate.
He knows his brother’s hatred of humans, his distrust for everything they do, he knows that the tentative line Aaron is trying to stretch out will be obliterated if he does this without Andrew’s complete approval and consent.
But they don’t have time for that.
Aaron clicks on his speaker, “Two merfolks, one severely injured, immediate rescue mission commence now. Prepare for combat.”
Kevin’s response is immediate, “Copy, arrival in 1 minute.”
It’s like a gunshot going off, Andrew breaks away from his mate, teeth flared into a snarl, “You fucking traitor.”
“Andrew, listen, I know you’re angry but I’m trying to save you and her.”
Andrew seems to try and answer but all that comes out is a garbled snarl and growl of fury.
He braces himself for Andrew’s claws, teeth, tail, anything , but when it doesn’t come it doesn’t take him long to realize why.
Andrew won’t leave, he can’t, his body is the last line of defence for the red tailed mermaid.
“They won’t hurt her, Andrew, she’s going to die if you stay here. Don’t fight us.”
“I have no proof of any of that. Where the fuck have you been for two fucking years!”
Andrew yells it, and Aaron freezes, Andrew has never raised his voice once.
“Kevin, Dan, Matt, in position.”
Where has he been?
“Andrew,” He tries but Andrew only lowers himself more and stares at Aaron. People told him his brother was the sentient being of rage - he has never believed them, until Andrew’s eyes settle on him now.
“Trust me Andrew.” Is the final thing he can say before Kevin is barking over the earpiece.
“Entering.”
Behind him, his team breaks through, three Foxes clad in their scuba gear. He hopes the lack of red and black helps Andrew realize that they aren’t the Ravens.
But, Dan heads them, swimming in with her tranquilizer gun drawn. Kevin ducks down as Matt takes up the right, all of them armed.
Andrew curls tighter around his mate, teeth bared, ears flared, but he must know the fight is over, it’s hopeless.
“The mermaid under him is too weak to fight, I think it’s his mate. Take out Andrew first.” Aaron croaks, letting his mic translate over to the group.
Andrew doesn’t even look at him.
The body underneath him is fighting, weakly, but Aaron can see the blood escape from under Andrew as the red webbed hand grasps onto his shoulders and the tail fights to regain strength. But it’s useless in the end.
Andrew turns, makes one last noise, one devoid of the aggression and anger lining his body, a gentle coo as Dan fires the dart into his neck. A panicked coo returns, red hands scrambling over Andrew’s face as his body begins to go slack against the other. Claws cradle in his brother’s blond hair as his face slumps forward, using his last bit of strength to make a final barrier from his mate and to the Foxes.
Matt and Kevin waste no time to lunge forward.
“Net .” Kevin barks, and Matt pulls out the trigger gun, firing it so it flies over Andrew’s body but the redtail doesn’t allow it. Sharp claws slash out as weak attempts of a growl are made.
But the mermaid has already lost too much blood to defend properly, more passing by the moment.
“Stop letting it fight! It’s gonna kill itself.” Dan yells.
“No.” The voice is weak under water, garbled because it comes out in broken English in the sea instead of their mother tongue. “No, take me. Not him, no.”
Dan fires the tranquilizer gun once more, it lands home in the mermaids arm.
However the dart takes longer this time to activate, giving the redtail a few vital moments to curve Andrew’s body away.
That’s when piercing blue eyes meet Aaron from across the cave.
The first realization Aaron makes is this,
One, Andrew’s mate is not a mer maid but a mer man, and:
Two, that if it wasn’t for the tranquilizer now seeping into his veins-
Aaron would have been ripped to shreds.
-
They barely make it back to the boat alive. The Ravens have already begun to mobilize, and he can hear the fighting of the Foxes as they pull alongside the black boat. Seth’s distinct voice volleying insults over, as Wymack comes to the front to speak with the head of the ship.
It’s Katelyn who pulls Aaron onboard, or at least tries too, he’s at least a hundred pounds heavier with his tail. Clutching his claws over the edge he flips himself over and crashes into her legs as she stumbles back, hands grasping at his shoulders.
Not even a second later Kevin and Matt are shouting as the voices from the Raven’s ship increases at the sight of the net coming into view. Allison is there, Seth on her heels as they scramble to pull them all up into the ship.
“Go Dan, fucking gun it!” Allison screams and the boat lurches forward, Aaron can’t see anything besides the feet running around him. Distinctly he thinks, that they really don’t care that there is a full ass merman at their feet.
But he’s met with a cold reminder when the net carrying his brother’s body is pushed beside him.
Like this, he guesses they do look like twins, eyes closed, anger cleared, black fanned ears hanging limply.
“Who the fuck is the other one?” Allison is asking, before she chokes, “Um, holy fuck is that a hole on his side?”
“Katelyn, get him downstairs with Abby, he doesn’t have long.” Kevin is saying and Aaron clutches his hands into the bottom of the boat, gritting his teeth.
“Me too, I’m going too. Clothes, get me my clothes.”
No one answers him, but feet are slamming around him before his raggy street clothes are thrown at his face.
Legs, legs, give me back my fucking legs.
Aches cracks up his body and his breath catches in surprise, his tail ripped away from him and naked skin suddenly bared to the world.
He grabs his clothes without another moment's thought, ignoring the dizzy spell, ignoring his body screaming at him for a break and the wounds on his shoulders hissing in protest.
He has under five minutes to save his brother’s mate's life.
-
Somehow - they do it.
Aaron stares down at the still body of the red tailed merman. The black scale that signifies who he is, still rests against his chest on Katelyn’s insistence. Scars make up most of his body, long ones, thick ones, small ones, and the worst: perfectly defined surgical ones. There’s a large wound where one of the Ravens expensive spear guns struck him on the side, and was dug out in a panic, careful white bandages now laid over it.
Who the fuck is this man.
Abby stands at the head of the table, all of them swaying with the boat as it flies them home. “Do you know who this is Aaron?” She asks, “Do you know who did this to him?”
“No, no I have no idea who this is. But apparently he’s my brother’s mate.” Aaron motions towards the scale on his neck.
“True mates,” Katelyn whispers, “That’s what it’s called right? We barely know anything about it.”
Aaron nods, not wanting to meet her eyes as he studies the red scales, “Think of it as the equivalent to soulmates for humans. But we can actually have the otherworldly touch, even some merfolk think it’s bullshit. Andrew thought it was bullshit last time I talked to him about it.”
Abby hesitates, she is eyeing the twitching side fin on the merman. “How long are these sedatives going to last for? Do you think-”
That sound of shattering glass and screaming cuts her off, Aaron hears snarls and slamming against the floorboards above him and he breaks out into a sprint, scrambling up the stairs and throwing himself through.
Andrew was woken up. Seth, Allison, and Matt have thrown themselves out of the line of fire, ducking into the cabin as Andrew thrashes his way out of the net and breaks through the rope they had tied him down with.
Aaron pushes himself to the front, using his body as a makeshift shield between his crew and Andrew’s claws. Gold eyes slid to lock with Aaron’s own, teeth bared, body raising as high as he can on the tail that makes up the length of a full grown man.
The thing is, when merpeople met humanity for the first time, the most shocking change is to see how humans have imagined them. As beautiful creatures that save humans from drowning and nurse them back to health, as beautiful sleek beings that beg for the humans attention.
Real merfolk couldn’t be any different, Aaron believes that the myths of sea monsters are a closer representation of their true nature.
“Andrew,” Aaron begins, in English this time, “Andrew, calm down.”
“Where the fuck is he.” Andrew hisses, and even though he’s speaking in English it sounds nothing like it. Spoken from his gut and laced with venom Aaron almost cowers from the looming shadow.
“Give me the word,” Dan says, stepping out of the cockpit, Aaron sees her draw out a gun and this time he isn’t sure if it’s just a tranquilizer.
They won’t hurt him. They won’t kill him.
You already have hurt him.
“He’s okay, Andrew, he’s in recovery-”
Andrew lunges, Aaron throws himself back to prepare for the attack but a shot rings out through the air. Aaron turns to look at Dan but she looks just as shocked as everyone else, the bullet hole embedded into the side of the boat's wall.
“You want to see your mate again, you’ll behave.”
Aaron shouldn’t be surprised to see Kevin come to stand beside him, one of Wymack’s pistols clutched in his shaking grasp.
“Kevin! Where the fuck-” Allison starts but is cut off by Seth’s hand on her shoulder, Aaron feels his stomach bottom out.
Meanwhile, Andrew hasn’t moved, but his gaze has turned to Aaron - it pierces through him.
“Trust you, that’s what you said?” Andrew sneers, “I already made that mistake once before, but now I don’t think you understand what you just cost yourself.”
“Is he threatening you?” Kevin says over top of anything Aaron could have said to defend himself. “If he’s this much of a threa-”
“You have a gun pointed directly at him Kevin! You’re the one fucking threatening him!” Allison yells, shoving Seth off.
“This is a precaution, merpeople are unpredictable in nature an-”
“Put the fucking gun down Day.” A gruff voice barks overtop of everyone, Aaron feels the tension room disparate behind him and grows on Andrew’s end, eyes sliding to lock onto Wymack as he comes away from captaining the ship. “This is not how I fucking taught you to be.”
Wymack comes up to Kevin and pulls the gun from his son’s grip, holstering it with a frown, “Go drive the ship, I don’t want to see you until we’ve landed.”
“But-” Kevin starts but is cut off with a wave of Wymack’s hand and a hard glare. It was clear there was no room for discussion, so Kevin clenched his jaw before storming past them all.
“Be careful.” Are his departing words, and Aaron is yet again reminded that in the end, Kevin just cares for his new family too.
Wymack wastes no time, turning to address his brother head on, “Andrew, I know you have no reason to listen to a word I say, but we are here to help you. Do you understand me?”
“I can speak English fine, old man.” Andrew snarls.
This, for some reason makes Wymack smile, “Good. I know the way we had to capture you was jarringing-”
-Andrew snarls at that-
“-but we had little time to get you away from the Ravens without further injury to you and your mate, correct? Now, he’s on our lower deck, being looked after by our medical team - your brother is included on that. He’s stable, and you’re welcome to go see him now-”
“Coach, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Matt starts, but Wymack cuts him off before he can finish.
“Boyd, what would you do if Dan was hurt?” He says, eyes boring into the taller man.
Matt swallows, eyes shifting back to the snarling merman before flicking back up, “I would do anything to get to her.”
Wymack doesn’t elaborate beyond that, raising his hands slowly and motioning for the other Foxes to make a pathway to the downstairs.
“I know you don’t trust us, but I know you can smell him, this isn’t a trap. There will be two other people down stairs an-”
He doesn’t get to finish because Andrew bolts, claws sinking into the boat’s floor to lurch himself forward, shocking everyone except Aaron. Merfolk were fast on land too when they needed to be, and he’s hot on his brother’s heels, jumping down the steps.
Katelyn looks up from the table, it looks like she was holding onto the redtail’s hand when Andrew breaks in. She moves just in time as Andrew reaches the table end, hauling himself up with his arms and reaching to grasp onto the other merman’s face.
“Neil,” He says, hands slipping down to check for a pulse, “Mola, Abram, come on.”
“We had to give him more sedation, so it’ll take him longer to wake up.” Katelyn responds quietly, easily ignoring the harsh snarl sent her way, “He’ll be okay.”
Andrew watches them all, even Abby has her hands raised as she comes to stand with them. His distrust is obvious, but his attention keeps splitting back to the merman underneath him. Arms curling around him as if to keep the others eyes off of him.
“Fucking Mola,” Andrew repeat quietly, and Abby jolts slightly at the sound of a merman dropping the F profanity. Aaron hears the insult Mola and tries to ignore what a relief it brings him hearing something so Andrew.
At the table, Andrew’s long black tail is curled up on the floor, Aaron can spot the rubs and cuts caused by the net and rope from earlier but Andrew pays it no mind. His hands keep checking over his mate's body, eyeing the bandages, touching his skin, briefly pressing two fingers to the scale hanging around his neck.
No one moves, entranced by watching Andrew move but the spell is quickly broken when Andrew finally snaps his head up. Eyes narrowing on the group and a quiet growl slips out.
So, Aaron steps forward on shaky legs, “His name is Neil? Or… Abram?”
Andrew narrows his eyes at him, black fins flaring on his arm once, looking like he’s about to go on defence again but something clicks in Andrew’s gaze. In perhaps exhaustion, the aggression drops out of body and he sighs.
“It’s Neil.”
And that’s all he gets, Andrew turns away again, but to Aaron it feels like a mini victory, and judging by Katelyn squeezing his hand - she feels so too.
-
It really was quite an ordeal getting a full grown merman from the underdeck of a ship, into the rehabilitation centre, discreetly.
It didn’t help either that he was still nursing the shock of seeing Andrew again, not only as a merman, but as a human too.
The door had opened from the lower deck, Aaron expected Abby but came face to face with his brother instead.
Now, both at equal height and human faces, Aaron is reminded that they are, in fact identical twins.
Andrew was wearing bagging grey sweats and a black hoodie, probably borrowed from Wymack. The scratch across his face was already beginning to heal, like the marks on Aaron’s shoulders - merfolk healing working once again.
“How are we getting him in.” Andrew says, english clearer and sharper without the sharp canines in his mouth.
Shoving his shock away, Aaron blinks and shakes his head, “Our entrance is just over there, it won’t be long.”
“Fine.” Andrew cuts in, turning away and storming back down the stairs without another word, not even a thanks . Not that Aaron had expected it anyways.
Katelyn comes to stand behind him, “Well you guys do look like twins,” She offers.
Aaron doesn’t know how to respond to that.
He still didn’t know how to respond when they docked and Nicky had come running out in tears, calling for Andrew but had been directly ignored. Too focused on holding onto Neil’s hand from under the white sheet that covered the merman’s body.
The moment they entered the building, Andrew began searching the area, ignoring the rest of the Foxes that were giving him a wide berth, eyeing him.
“He was going to tear our throats out like ten minutes ago,” Matt whispers to Dan, or attempts too. It falls flat the moment it echoes down the hallways, and right back to the enhanced hearing of any merfolk.
Andrew’s gaze flicks over to him, “I’m still considering it.”
Matt laughs, Andrew doesn’t.
Finally Wymack ushers them away, and leads Andrew through a different door, just in time for the body under the cover to lurch to life with a shout and curdling cry.
The slamming of the door cuts of the sight of Andrew reaching to pull the other into his arms.
Beside him, Katelyn lets go of a shaky breath, “Well,” She says, “I think we should all go rest? Been a pretty crazy day huh?”
No one responds and the only thing anyone can hear is Nicky’s quiet sniffling.
When the world finally slows enough for Aaron to get a weak grasp on it, that’s when it hits him, really, that this is it. His entire life, old and new now bridged together, that nothing will or could be the same after this. That beyond those doors is his brother, alive, pissed and wants Aaron dead.
So nothing really different but still.
-
The Foxes gather in the lounge room, Nicky sits next to Aaron on the couch but doesn’t ask anything else. He’s stopped crying, but his face is still flush with emotions and Aaron knows that anything could send him tipping over.
“Are they staying?” Matt asks, arm wrapped around Dan who has pillowed her head on his shoulder. “Do they even want to?”
Dan sighs, “I think it’s unfair to judge them because of today. We hadn’t realized the stakes we were facing and did not plan accordingly, that’s on us. I say we try again tomorrow.”
Allison nods her agreement, kicking Seth in the shin when he just shrugs, leaning back against the chair.
“Well he’s Aaron’s brother so? Isn’t it sorta obvious, we gotta keep ‘em.”
“He’s dangerous. Both of them.” Kevin says, standing sonic behind the group, “I need to test the redtails scales the next chance I can.”
Dan wrinkles her nose, eyes narrowing or her brother, “They are not your lab experiments Kevin, we understand that you were taught differently but they are no different then from Aaron here. Just because we don’t see Aaron in his form, doesn’t mean it erases who he is. You see Aaron as one of us? You see them as one of us too.”
Kevin blinks, fingers tapping an irregular beat on his arm in a rare display of anxiety. Aaron narrows his eyes on it, feeling uneasy on what that sight could mean.
“Make sure they are highly monitored for now, then. I’m going to talk with Wymack.” He spits before turning on his heels and disappearing down the darkening hallway.
With Kevin gone, Aaron feels the focus in the room shift to him. Curious eyes, and unfiltered mouths land home and the shots begin firing.
“So… I take it Andrew wasn’t too pleased to see you?” Allison venters, “He looked like he really was gonna kill you there on the boat.”
Nicky’s stalemate of not crying breaks, and a muffled sob slips past his lips and Aaron sighs.
“I guess I threatened his… mate,” Aaron flexes his fingers, “Big nono in fish world.”
“Merpeople can be gay?” Seth asks, and dodges the slap Allison aims in his direction. “Fuck off! I was just wondering, I don’t know any besides fucking Aaron and that man only thinks with his straight fish dick.”
Aaron scowl deepens, “None of that is important, my brother and I have a… complicated past. We didn’t grow up together and we only lived with Nicky for a couple of years, after that shit was weird. But it won’t be an issue and neither will Andrew or his… mate .” He turns to Nicky and clamps a hand down on his shoulder in the only type of condolence he can muster, “You can talk to Andrew later, I’ll try and short shit out with him first.”
Nicky nods, wiping his snot away with his sleeve. “Okay,” He says quietly, reaching up to squeeze Aaron’s hand in return before giving him a weak smile, “Just… make sure he’s okay.” Nicky glances away for a moment, as if debating if he should say something else before adding, “And ask him why he didn’t come home?”
Standing, Aaron makes sure to hide the rush of emotions to his face with a nod and quick turn away.
“I will.” He says, I definitely will.
-
When Aaron walks into the basement, he isn’t sure what he expects to see.
Maybe Andrew, snarling and pissed again, returned to his merform and prepared to take out all of the Foxes with him. Or maybe he would find Andrew mourning the death of his mate, because Aaron wasn’t fast enough to save him.
Instead he finds Andrew still in his human form, sitting in the small pool of water Wymack or Abby must have set up. The water is only a meter or so deep as it resides in the centre of the room.
Andrew’s shirt and jogging pants are soaked to his form as he holds Neil in his arms, the red tailed man’s torso is the only thing that can fit onto Andrew’s human body, but he makes do. Careful hands card through the auburn hair, hazel eyes downcasted as he watches the other’s sleeping body.
White gauze covers the wound on his side- Aaron knows that Neil can’t shift, but he can’t stay completely submerged either, so they’ve pulled out the kitty pool to keep his scales moist and as a result, also giving Andrew the chance to stay in this form as well. Aaron knows it’ll help, giving Andrew the chance to be in optimum position to fight on land if needed.
It reminds him of knives and black armbands.
The silence stretches too long without Andrew even acknowledging him, though Aaron knows he’s aware that he’s here.
“You could’ve at least put a wetsuit on, I’m sure we have an extra laying around.” Aaron says tentatively, unsure if the moment Andrew hears him speak will be the trigger of rage he’s been bracing for.
Hazel eyes flick up, it still baffles him how dull the colour seems in comparison to the burning golden he had seen only hours before. Still, Andrew only looks to acknowledge him with a slow blink before turning back to staring at Neil’s sleeping face. A stray finger reaches up to trace the pale cheek. Aaron tries to bite back his annoyance as he walks closer to his twin, he needs answers.
“So this is who you’ve been with for the past two years?” Aaron tries again. This time Andrew doesn’t even look up, but his finger pauses.
“These humans are who you’ve been with for the past two years?” His twin echoes back, the judgment in his tone puts Aaron even closer to the edge.
“Yes, your cousin is here too.”
“Nicky,” Andrew acknowledges, “I saw.”
Aaron grits his teeth, “Did you? You never spoke to him, you know, he’s been worried about you too.”
More than worried, he wants to say, but doesn’t. Mourned you .
“I was preoccupied.” Andrew bites back, his fingers have not begun to move again.
“I can see that.”
Perhaps the dryness in his tone travels too thickly, because Andrew’s grip tightens as Neil’s fin twitches in the water. The worst part is he still doesn’t look, he can’t even face Aaron now, for everything he’s done to him - to their family, he can’t even look at him.
Aaron’s patience lessens, “It’s ironic isn’t it? The twin who always bitched about true mates and being with someone is the one who gives up his family to be with one. You know, I really tried to get it at first, but really Andrew? Not even an attempt to tell us what happened? Just leaving us to believe that you had died and become shark food, left us to mourn someone who was swimming around the ocean fucking some merman because he couldn’t even be bothered to look for a way to contact his only fucking brother?”
He wants a reaction, he wants to see the anger that runs true in his brother’s blood. He wants to see golden eyes and fanged teeth, he wants answers .
Instead though, Andrew doesn’t flinch, doesn’t make a peep, only shifts his gaze over to meet Aaron’s eyes. “You asked me to leave first.” He begins slowly, “Don’t be angry that I fulfilled your want of me.”
Aaron halts, disbelief that switches to ice cold dread, fills his bones. He stares at Andrew, at the distrust that lines his every breath, the way Andrew has deemed him a threat to the other merman earlier.
Words, ones said in dazed anger, you ruined everything, I wish I never met you, and the worst part is that he knows that isn’t everything he said that night.
The night Andrew agreed to join the Hunt, the night Andrew stopped talking to him and then disappeared a week later.
The thing, the invisible guilt that was weighing in his gut from the moment he saw Andrew on that screen alive, alive and never returned home, hits.
“You can’t be serious. Andrew, it was a stupid fight!” Aaron barks, but Neil makes a noise at the sudden increase in volume and Andrew covers him from view. A low snarl slipping out of his lips, one that Aaron knows is purely based on instinct now.
“If you have nothing of substance to say besides throwing more pity parties for yourself, you can leave.” Andrew hisses back, “I do not have time for this.”
“I thought you were dead, Andrew. I mourned you.”
“And you sent me away.”
Aaron blanks at those words, frustration is so cutting he can barely breathe and guilt that he’s tried to ignore for years is coming back and eating him alive. He stares at the back of his brother, who is still hovering in front of Neil protectively and can barely recognize him. Andrew never cared about anyone, Andrew didn’t give two shits about other people or merfolk and yet here he is.
“I never wanted to, you have to understand that. How do you think I feel when I come back and you’ve run off with some fucking stranger?”
Aaron doesn’t realize his mistake until he hears a gasping breath and Andrew’s deep rumble, a fin twitches in the water before splashing outward. The water soaks him, shocking him into realizing how close he’s even gotten to the pool.
“Mola, Mola , calm down, it’s just me.” Andrew begins, a sound so foreign, but one purely formed out of a need to comfort comes through his brother’s chest as Neil supposedly wakes up. “Shh, you’re going to pull your stitches.”
“-drew?” A broken voice whispers out in their mother tongue, “Andrew where are we? Why are you like this?” A swish of the flaming red tail indicates he’s speaking about Andrew’s lack of one.
“Safe, and we’re on land, it’s easier to watch you like this.”
Neil makes a small clicking noise in protest, a webbed hand reaches up and curls around Andrew’s cheek. Aaron suddenly feels like he isn’t supposed to be here.
“I’m sorry, ‘drew, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Andrew sighs, “Don’t, Mola. Not right now. I just need you to rest and get better.”
There’s some movement in the small tank, as Andrew shifts to hold more of Neil against him, vallently ignoring Aaron standing behind them.
Aaron is just about to storm out but stops when he hears Neil shuffle again.
“I can smell your brother.” Neil murmurs, “Why are we hiding from him?”
Aaron jolts at the words, freezing in his movements, and peers over to see Andrew shift only slightly so Neil’s hazy blue eyes land on him. Something crosses the scarred face, and Aaron is suddenly very aware that Neil already knows who he is and seems to have already made an opinion up for him.
He also can’t forget the look of murder that is directed his way either.
“I was trying to sleep.” Neil snaps, switching to shockingly clear English while trying to sit up but is stopped by Andrew’s large hand pressing him back down, a firm shake of his head and quiet clicking noise puts a stop to whatever the other was planning.
“I was just trying to speak to my brother.” Aaron mutters, “Something I’ve been deprived of for a few years.”
The words are supposed to be targeted, and judging by the slitted eyes he earns in response, Neil knows it.
“Usually when people wish to speak to someone, they put a little effort into doing so.”
“Who the fuck are you again.” Aaron snaps. If it wasn’t for him, Neil would be dead. His brother would be dead, “You realize if it wasn’t for me, you’d be dead in a cave by now.”
A sharp growl cuts him off and Andrew locks eyes with him again, but it barely phases him, if anything it reminds him of his anger towards all of this. Reminds of Nicky’s tears.
“Andrew would be dead because of you.”
A broken noise slips out of Neil’s mouth in surprise, eyes that are horrifically blue, widen. This time Andrew snarls louder, eyes igniting into burning gold for a moment, splitting down the middle.
Neil tries to say something, claws digging into the edge of the small pool, wincing but he sneers nonetheless. Andrew keeps him down,
“Aaron, now is your time to leave.”
“Oh fuck you, Andrew! You get your true mate and what? You get your fucking happy ending? You get to just up and leave and never come back?”
“And what?” Andrew snaps, “You sneaking out for weeks at a time to fuck different humans is better?”
The door to the downstairs slams open, causing Aaron to jump, and Neil to flinch violently back. Andrew brings him to his chest, murmuring something but Aaron can’t hear it besides the blood pounding in his ears, the anger vibrating through him.
And his own disgust in himself.
“Minyard!” Wymack yells, “Get back up stairs, stop bothering these two if you’re gonna-”
He trails off when he sees Neil, head pressed against Andrew’s chest and wheezing breaths barely making it out of him. Aaron blinks, a panic attack?
Each step Wymack makes is another noise of sheer panic coming out of the merman’s mouth. Eyes dazed, as Andrew pulls him back down with urgent words.
“Abram, Abram, it’s just the old man I told you about earlier. You remember right? Come on, don’t go back there, don’t go.”
There’s something more here. He’s reminded of Kevin again and they way his green eyes had stared at Neil’s fins, how the perfect scars lined the merman’s back and stomach. How Andrew knew this was going to happen and didn’t bother fully engaging in a fight with Aaron.
There is something so much bigger happening, but right now, right now Aaron can’t take it.
Shoving Wymack out of the way, Aaron grits his teeth, before shaking his head, making a beeline for the exit. The guilt is heavier than anything else. He did it again. Like always, he gets forced to face the shit he’s done, the things he says in fits of rage - and a desperation to get what he feels he deserves.
Like his mother fists, or Luther’s stinging words. He expected just as much from Andrew, and here again, he’s trying to pull it out of him.
He pauses, letting himself take one last lingering look at his brother again, trying to calm down a mate that even Aaron never thought Andrew would get - would want .
He feels happy, he does, for him. He just doesn’t know why he can’t show it, can’t tell him. Anger and resentment is still there, lurking, but he needs to swallow it back down - Neil was there when Aaron wasn’t.
The door swings shut behind him, and Katelyn is already waiting, warm brown eyes only take one look at him before she reaches her arms out and pulls him down into a tight hug.
“We’ll figure it out.” She murmurs, pressing soft lips to his brow.
Aaron sighs, letting some of the tension leak out - tomorrow, tomorrow he’ll talk alone with Andrew if he can get him away from the redtail for a few minutes. Tomorrow he’ll work on trying to rebuild the bridge the both of them burned without knowing it.
But today? Today he’s already done the best he can.