✔️Scales (Hankcon Mermaid AU)

5^ Painfully Awake

Hank carries me down to the water. "Are you sure about this?" he questions. "Are you sure, your brother won't kill me?"
"He'll have to go through me first!" I announce determinedly. "But, I'm sure, you'll be just fine!"
"Well... ok..." Hank wades into the water and sets me down when it's deep enough.
I take his hand and lead him into the waves. When the water reaches his neck, he stops.
"Connor, I can't!"
"You can, Hank!" I reassure him. "It'll be fine, I promise. Just, go under." I press myself against him to comfort him.
He sighs, but he slowly submerges himself. When he's under, I smile at him until he opens his eyes. "I-I still can't b-believe this..."
"Let's go!" I take his hand and swim away with him in tow. "You'll be fine, Hank! I promise, nothing will happen to you." As we swim, I can see a figure floating ahead. "Conan..!" The figure turns to me. He looks like Conan, but he has a shark tail? Conan's not a shark... "C-Conan..?"
A huge shark emerges behind him. He's massive, and he swims forward with a flick of his tail. Conan - or, the one who looks like Conan - cowers behind him. "Who are you?" His voice reverberates through my head.
"I-I'm.. Connor.."
"Oh, Connor! You're back!" He turns to Not-Conan. "Go, get Conan!"
He swims away, shooting us one last fearful look before disappearing into my house.
"Who are you?!" I snap.
"I'm Corvin."
"Ok, but, who are you?"
"Connor!!" Conan tackles me as he envelopes me in his arms. "I was so scared!"
"Hank? What the fuck are you doing down here?" Gavin asks curiously.
Conan lets me go. "You brought a human down here?!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?" Conan shakes me.
"Hank is fine! He's not with CyberLife! It's fine!" I swim over to Hank and float in front of him protectively. "I love him!"
Conan grits his teeth.
"I don't know, I think Hank looks cool." Corvin floats upside down, nonchalantly running his fingers through the hair of Not-Conan.
"Shut up, Corvin!" Conan snaps. "This is bad, Connor! Humans aren't allowed down here!"
"What about Gavin?"
"He's an authorized human! He's allowed to be here! Hank is not!"
Gavin places his hand on Conan's shoulder. "We can trust him, Conan. He's my business partner."
"I'm not worried about him," Conan growls. "I'm worried about what can happen to us if CyberLife knows he's down here."
"What will happen if they do?" That guy looks like me. What is happening? Who are they?
     "They'll put us in fish tanks, Caz."
     "We were in fish tanks before, and it wasn't that bad," Caz tries to soothe him.
     "I want to be free!!" Conan rounds on him, snarling through his teeth.
     "They won't know!" Gavin assures him. "Sitting here and arguing will do nothing."
     "Fucking fine! Fine." Conan swims forward. "Don't speak a word of this to anyone, or I'll have your head for dinner." He turns and darts away. Gavin shrugs before following him.
     I take Hank's hand. "See? Told you, we'd be fine!"
     "You're Connor, right? I'm Caz." The one that looks like me swims forward.
"How did you end up here?"
He shrugs. "No idea. CyberLife scooped us out of our tank and dropped us here."
I nod slowly. Well, they're here. No point in questioning everything.
"I'm Corvin, like I said." The largest one floats forward.
Not-Conan shivers in his arms.
"Are you ok, Conrad?"
Conrad looks up at Corvin with trembling lips. It takes a minute to tell, but he's crying.
"Oh, my poor baby." Corvin wraps himself around Conrad's body. He's almost completely covered by Corvin's massive tail. He really is a big guy... "He's having a panic attack," Corvin explains. "Give him a minute." Corvin turns away, shielding Conrad with his body.
"Is he... ok?" I shoot a glance at Caz.
"Yeah," he assures me. "Conrad is... Well, he's a mess. CyberLife really hates him, and none of us knows why."
"A mess...?" I float forward. I can feel Hank pressing himself into my back.
Caz fixes a hard gaze on me. "We should talk about this somewhere else."
I nod in agreement. Silently, I take Hank's hand and pull him with me. As I pass Corvin, I can hear him whispering things to Conrad, and I can hear Conrad hiccuping and breathing heavily. I've never heard him say a word, though...
When we're far enough, Caz stops. "Conrad... is like CyberLife's punching bag," he begins. "I don't even know why. They just like making him miserable. They took out his vocal cords. He can't talk if he wanted to. They took everything away from him. He can't even feel pleasure." Caz raises his eyebrows suggestively. They took off his... Wow, they really did take everything from him. "All he has is a hole, and if you think Corvin doesn't take full advantage of that hole, then you're wrong."
"What about Corvin? They seem close."
"They are. They're together. But, CyberLife didn't like that, so they separated the two. Corvin was not happy." Caz grits his teeth in a pained expression.
"Keep going," I encourage him.
"Let's just say that they paid the price for making Corvin angry. He's a huge guy. I wouldn't mess with him, but not everyone is as smart as me." He shrugs. "He broke our tank and murdered everyone. Well, not everyone, but it looked like it. Just to get to Conrad. And, he's surprisingly mobile on land. Corvin is literally a nightmare if you make him mad."
"How do I not make him mad?" I glance behind me.
"Don't say bad stuff about him or Conrad, and you're golden." He turns away. "Oh, and, avoid touching Conrad. At. All. Costs. Corvin doesn't care if you so much as brush your tail against him. I promise, he'd beat the shit out of you."
"R-Really?" I press myself against Hank. I don't feel safe in my home, anymore.
"Well... Actually, I take that back. He'd probably snap at you, and that's it. He won't do anything unless you harm his precious Conrad." Caz rolls his eyes. "Just... be careful. Conrad is the only one that can stop him, but he most likely won't. Conrad's a bitter baby, and Corvin is just an overprotective boyfriend." He swims away without a backward glance.
"That's... a lot," Hank begins.
"It was..." I look over at him. "I promise, I didn't know they'd be here." I swim towards the door. "But, this is my home!"
As soon as I open the door, the sounds of Conan and Gavin arguing hit me. And, it hits me hard.
"I don't want to end up in a goddamn fish tank, Gavin!" Conan screams.
"I said, you won't! I'll say that I brought him down here!"
"And, how are you going to explain the fact that a HUMAN can breathe and talk underwater?!" Conan grabs him. "How are you going to explain yourself?!"
"I-I'll think of something! Look, CyberLife doesn't even care!"
Conan's pupils contract. "They care, Gavin. I've seen first hand how much they care," he says in a suddenly quiet voice. "I'm not in control."
"What do you even mean?"
"CyberLife can see everything that's happening."
"How?"
"Through me."
"Bullshit," Gavin scoffs.
"Gavin, I'm serious. CyberLife knows everything. They can see everything I see, hear everything I hear. I don't belong to me. I'm not in control. I'm just a vessel for CyberLife to use to spy on Connor. That's it. That's all I am." He closes his eyes.
"So, all those times we-"
"Yes! Yes! They saw all of that!"
"I-I was fucking you!" Gavin backs away. "Why didn't you say something?!"
"Because, I wanted you! I love you!" Conan cries.
Gavin continues to back away. "N-No way..."
"I'm sorry."
Gavin doesn't say anything. "You're fucked. He's fucked, I'm fucked, and so are you."
"I-It's not my fault! Gavin, please!" Conan rushes forward. "Destroy me! Destroy me. Kill me. You'll be safe if you kill me. There's a chance they might've seen nothing, but you have to kill me!"
"What? I can't do that!"
"Why not?"
"Because, I love you?! Obviously?!" Gavin snaps. "Look, we'll figure it out. No one has to die."
"One of two things will happen: either, you kill me, or CyberLife will-"
Conan cuts off mid-sentence. He falls still with an emotionless face.
"Conan?" Gavin pokes his chest. "You alright?"
I back away. "Hank... We need to get you out of here. CyberLife will kill you." I take his hand and drag him away. I dart off as fast as I can. "I'm so sorry, Hank! I'm sorry! I didn't know!"
"It's ok, Connor! It's ok."
"It's not!" I reach the shore and shove him up. "Go! Leave!"
"What about you?!"
I pause. I look down. "I... I'll be fine. CyberLife will probably put me in a fish tank, but it's ok. I'll miss you, Hank." My heart breaks as I look up at him.
"Wh-What?! No, you can't leave me, Connor!" He holds onto me. "Connor, please, come home with me! I'll save you!"
"What about the others?" I shake my head. "Hank, I love you more than I can say, but I love Conan, too. I can't leave him. I can't leave the others. It's not fair."
"Please," Hank begs.
"I can't... I'm sorry, I can't!" I push him away. "Just, go!"
"One last kiss! Please," Hank insists, not giving up.
I huff before obliging and pulling Hank's face down to meet mine. I kiss him roughly before pushing him away. "Now, go. Please."
Hank finally moves away from me. "I-I love you, Connor!"
"I love you, too, Hank..." I dive below the surface and shudder in sorrow. I should've known this wouldn't work. I should've known I wouldn't be able to stay with Hank for long. I should've known.
I make my way back home. Should I even go back? Why not run away? I can't leave Conan. I've already caused him enough pain. I need to go home. I flick my tail, propelling myself through the water.
I can hear thrashing and shouting, and I hurry to see what's happening.
Corvin and Conan are grappling in the water, thrashing around as they struggle to beat each other. Conrad cowers against a rock. Caz and Gavin shout words that are lost on the two forces of nature.
I swim down to Conrad and place my hand on his shoulder. "Tell Corvin to stop."
He shakes his head.
"Why not?" Then, I realize how stupid I am. "Conan's not in control. Corvin is the only one keeping him from us..." I look over at Conrad. "Never mind. We have to stop Conan."
Corvin gets the upper hand and slams Conan against a rock. Thirium spills from where he hit his head. For a second, Conan floats in the water, and I'm worried that he's dead.
Until, he darts into Corvin and catches the shark off guard. Conan drives him into the wall and slams him against it. How he has the strength to do that, I don't know.
Shadows from above play on the ground, and I look to see that CyberLife swimmers are approaching us. They have nets.
My heart sinks. My biggest fear is coming true.
Corvin looks up at them. His eyes widen, and he springs into action. Without hesitation, he pushes Conan as hard as he can, and he goes flying. Then, he turns and darts over to where I float with Conrad. The next thing I know, I'm being carried away by Corvin going way faster than I ever could.
Conrad presses himself against Corvin's chest. I should do the same. I turn so I'm pressed against his chest, and he goes a little faster.
My heart beats as fast as Corvin swims. I'm so scared. My life is being completely upturned.
And, it's my fault.
If I wouldn't have taken Hank down here, things would be ok.
All of a sudden, Corvin stops. He pants above me. Conrad lets out shaky, scared breaths. "I-I think... we're safe," he whispers. "For now."
I look up at him to see him staring back and forth, surveying the area.
"Yeah.. ok." He floats over to a small cave. "We can shelter here for now. CyberLife will be looking for us. We can't stay here for very long."
He sets me down, but Conrad clings to him. Caz is right. He is kind of a baby. But, would I do that with Hank? Probably.
Conrad starts crying again, and Corvin wraps him up in his tail. "Oh, Conrad..."
"What do we do?" I ask in a small voice.
Corvin meets my gaze. "I-I don't know... We can go wherever we want. But, CyberLife will find us. We'll be running forever."
"We need to find Hank!" I blurt as an idea comes to me.
"Connor, I know, you miss him, but-"
"No! This isn't about that!" I cut him off. "He told me that CyberLife was violating our rights, and we could sue them!"
"Umm... ok." Corvin sets Conrad down. "How about we sleep on this, ok? You guys need rest."
He's right. I'm tired. I nod in agreement.
Corvin lays down and drapes his tail over Conrad, who is already fast asleep. I float closer, consumed with uncertainty, before Corvin grabs me and pulls me forward. I press myself against Conrad. Corvin drapes his tail over me and curls up, protecting us with his body.
I stay awake for a few hours. I can't bring myself to sleep. I can tell Corvin's not asleep by the way he twitches and jumps at the smallest noise. He's paranoid.
I close my eyes and will myself to sleep, but I can't.
Therefore, I lay there, scared, paranoid, and painfully awake.