Chapter Text
Feyre had been in this tank for 63 days. She knew this not because the lamps ever turned off or gave her a sense of day or night, not because there was any natural light to indicate what hour of day it might be, not because there was anything at all to mark the passing of time. But because the head scientist walked in every morning and dictated notes to his assistant: "The date is the 22nd of March, in the year of our lord 1705. This is day 63. Subject 104 seen resting on floor of the tank, appears to have eaten the fish we fed it. Mermaid diet apparently indiscriminate."
Feyre hissed at this. She hadn't wanted to eat anything they had given her, but they only fed her every three days and the hunger took over. The scientist raised an eyebrow. "Subject 104 baring teeth, does not seem to be adjusting to new social environment."
What social environment? Feyre thought. She was alone in the tank, and the scientist never addressed her directly.
Once, when she was first caught, the scientist's red headed assistant attempted to communicate with her. He had put a hand up to the glass, and said "Hello mermaid. My name is Lucien, and this is Tamlin."
Feyre had been so scared, and so disoriented that all she could do was swim in circles, looking for an exit.
"Come away from there," the head scientist had said. "Don't bother the subjects, they can't understand you. And besides, you'll ruin the integrity of the experiments."
So Lucien had shot her a sad and sorry glance, and walked away. And no one had spoken to her since.
Of course, Feyre had tried to talk to them. But they didn't understand her, didn't have ears that could hear under water. She gave up eventually, and now spent her days sitting on the floor of the tank and hoping they'd either release her or kill her quickly.
So when the pirates appeared hours after the scientists had left that day, Feyre was more shocked than anyone.
It had started with a grinning face over the top of the tank. Feyre didn't notice at first, but then the head cast a shadow and it was so rare for changes in the light that Feyre looked up. And saw a smiling face, dark hair falling into his eyes and cheekbones as sharp as knives. The face disappeared as fast as it had come, and then before Feyre could wonder who that was, the tank lurched violently to the left.
Feyre put her hands out to catch herself against the glass, and then she was being tipped the other way. She scanned the room, and could now see two very large men, a tall blonde woman, and a short dark haired lady who was standing back and seemed to be directing the whole operation.
They were rocking the tank so they could slide a wooden platform under her, which had small wheels attached to each corner. Then ropes were being thrown around the tank to lash it to the board, and finally the two big men were hauling the ropes over their shoulders. Feyre startled when the first grinning man hopped up onto the platform with her, and braced his arms on the glass.
"Hello darling," he said. "My name is Rhys. What's yours?"
Feyre stared into his violet eyes, ringed with dark kohl. He had several gold loops threaded through his ears, and numerous silver rings on his fingers. His loose linen shirt was rolled up at the sleeves to reveal black and orange tattoos up his forearms.
"Feyre," she answered him, before she could remember that human ears could not hear her under water.
But Rhys just smiled wider. "Nice to meet you Feyre. We're breaking you out, if that's okay with you."
Feyre just gaped at him, and Rhys' eyes turned soft.
"You've been in here a long time, I think. I'm sorry it took us so long to get to you. Tamlin's got more fae in here than we realised."
"There are more? I haven't seen anyone."
"Yeah everyone's in individual tanks so they can't interact." Rhys looked angry now. "I'd go after him myself, but we have to get you all to safety first. You were the one furthest back, so unfortunately we got to you last."
The wooden board was rolling now, bumpy and uneven. Rhys looked up at the top of the tank, where water was sloshing out from under the lid.
"Where are we going?" Feyre asked.
"Well, first we have to get you out of this place. We've drugged the guards so that should be no problem, they haven't bothered us with any of the others. Then we'll split up, Mor and Cassian will take a number of fae back to the forest, some will just fly away, and you we will have to get back to the ocean.
The ocean. The big, wide open space where Feyre could actually move around. She swallowed. Rhys caught the moment, and gave her a small smile.
"Don't worry, Feyre darling. We'll get you home soon."
"Who are you all?" Feyre asked. Rhys grinned again.
"Pirates," was all he said. And then he had to be quiet as they rounded a corner where there were indeed, guards slumped over in their chairs. Now that they had left the lab, Feyre noticed it was dark, and there were stars out.
"It's a little way out," he said more quietly. "We got horses and a wagon but I'm afraid it's not going to be a particularly comfortable journey for you."
"It took two days coming in," Feyre said. Rhys nodded.
"We're pretty far from the ocean. I've been tracking Tamlin for a while now, we first noticed him out on the water but we couldn't attack at the time. We're just one measly pirate ship, he was part of a whole fleet. And then we lost him for a bit, when there was a bad storm. Figured he'd headed back to land, but where exactly that was we didn't know. Finally got wind of his laboratory set-up two weeks ago, and have been slowly putting plans together and infiltrating his space ever since."
Feyre wondered how many fae they had rescued. She was just about to ask, when the platform stopped moving. The short haired woman came up to Rhys.
"Trouble ahead," she said. "Five new guards, panic is starting because the lab's empty."
"Take Mor and Azriel," Rhys said. "Keep them away from us. Cassian and I will get Feyre back to the wagon."
Amren nodded once, and then disappeared.
"Sorry dear," Rhys said. "Looks like I'm on hauling duty. I'll keep an eye on you but if you feel the tank slipping you give me a shout okay?"
Feyre nodded. Rhys hopped down and took up the rope that the man he called Azriel had abandoned, and they continued pulling the platform away. Behind them, shouts and ringing steel rose up like smoke in the night.
There didn't seem to be any more trouble by the time Cassian and Rhys reached the horses. They let down a ramp and wheeled the platform and tank into the wagon, and covered the whole thing with a sheet of canvas. Feyre had been in a windowless room with the lamps on for two months, and the sudden dark was both a relief, and very frightening.
"Are you okay in there?" Rhys called.
"Yes," Feyre said, but her voice shook.
"I won't leave you alone," Rhys promised. "We're just waiting for the others to get back."
Sure enough, running footsteps rang out minutes later, and there was hurried movement as they all hauled onto horses and took off at speed. A minute later, the canvas lifted, and Rhys reappeared. The sight of him, even thought Feyre had only just met him, made her heart stop racing quite so painfully fast. Then he slid down into the water with her, and she moved backward in surprise.
Rhys grinned his white grin.
"Surprise," he said. His voice was crystal clear underwater, and now she noticed gills flare around his neck.
"You..?"
"Oh yes, we're all part fae," he said. "We mostly live like humans, and then we found each other and took to the sea instead. Hungry for horizons."
Feyre barely registered what he was saying. Just threw her arms around his neck, and finally let herself cry into his chest. The past two months of being trapped in a tank alone came crashing into her, now that she was finally able to talk to and touch another being. Rhys' arms came up around her, and he stroked her hair as she shook.
"It's alright now," he murmured. "It's over. You're going home."
Feyre fell asleep in his embrace.