The lovely art above was created by the wonderful artist
@muppenthings.tumblr.com please check her out her au is amazing!!!
I wrote this for her and thought you guys might enjoy it too!

So originally this was supposed to be a short little angsty thing...it's almost 10k lmao. Enjoy

Wc:9585

Tw: Drowning/suffocation(implied) Blood, Vomiting (implied), Injury, talk of eating/eating of animals(not graphic)...uh that's about it I think?

----

"-Let's get to Corbin, with our final report; see how things are going down live at the Marina...Corbin?"

"Thanks Sloane. I'm here at the Marina--fifth port dock-- where as you can see behind me the sea is beyond rough. With winds up to 62 knots and a corresponding maximum deepwater wave height of 46 feet. Trawlers are advised to stay vigilant or return to shore. A Small Craft Advisory has already been issued by the National Weather Service. Both private and commercial boat owners are advised to dock their vessels and ensure that their bilge pumps are working-"

"This will be the second massive storm this month right Corbin?"

"That it is Sloane, to those at home please do ensure that your windows are shut and that you remain inside; to those going home, make sure your headlights are on and drive carefully. It's going to be one long night of rain. This is Corbin Corne signing off for News 5-"

-----

Lightning decorated the sky.

Flashing sharply and crackling with thunder not too far behind it.

Waves rise and break, surges form, rolling to and fro-

Virgil is asleep surprisingly peacefully through all of it, thunder be damned, he's exhausted.

He had been dealing with a particularly pesky pod of Orcas, one member of which had led him on a frustrating chase that had caused him to burn far more energy than he realized.

The waves are high enough to actually rock him back and forth as he floats limply at the surface. In his tired state it reminds him of when he was younger...smaller. It reminds him of when they would hold him and rock him to sleep.

As he dozes, drifting off both figuratively and a bit literally, he relaxes under the rain, reveling in the rhythmic but gentle pressure the drops create as they splash across his body.

He's asleep for not more than an half-hour when a sharp pain in his scalp startles him awake.

He jolts his up quickly trying to figure out what had caused it-- that movement sets it all off, a simple mistake on his part really-

It takes a second but the mer belatedly realizes that there is a net tangled in his hair, this of course is what he realized the same time in which said net had swung-- caused no doubt by his previous motion--wapping straight into both of his eyes.

Virgil reels back with a yelp.

Swimming vertically now, he rubs his eyes.

The stinging pain prevents him from opening them for a bit-

He's suddenly tossed with a wave and almost goes rolling. He manages to right himself with some difficulty, something he finds odd, for he usually has decent balance.

He had tried removing the net from out of his hair, but it slices at his fingertips with the motion. His claws seem to further tangle and yank-- so he stopped but not before the pain set in, a sore scalp is not something he needed at this time.

Still trying to open his eyes, Virgil finds himself tossed again, this time with a pulse of sharp pain on his tail. Another net? He swims downwards, hoping that if he went deep enough, he'd bypass the rest of the netting. But with his tailfin wrapped as it was, his balance got even more thrown off and a rolling wave threw another net at him.

More nets, great.

He grasps at it blindly, tearing away the one that tried to completely cover his face. Unfortunately for him, when doing so another piece latched on to his fin spine along with his already wrapped tailfin.

Wincing, he bends in an attempt to tear it off, only for pain to shoot up and throughout him. There was a net on both of his spines connecting to his tail. He had tried to straighten out but that became an even more difficult task. The sea, of course, had no mercy with him and one point he was even tossed to the surface.

Growling at the absolutely ridiculous situation he found himself in, Virgil tried to at least swim forward. He couldn't tear off the net at his tail because it was connected to his dorsal spines and he couldn't tear it off of the spines because he could only reach the first spine and that was entangled with the second one and that one was tangled with his tail; which meant...a problem.

Huffing in slight panic, the mer continued his attempt at moving forward, he wasn't too far from the beach as his meet up with his humans was to happen at sun up; still he was a lot further out and swimming with just his hands wasn't exactly his top speed.

His primary concern though, was that he got out of the way of the nets. He should be fine in the shallows, where he could either attempt to remove the pesky mesh himself or he could wait for his humans to assist him...as embarrassing as that would be.

Of course, things could never be so simple.

Near wrapped up, unable to fully stretch out, plus poor balance made it exceptionally easy for the undertow to pull the mer back, toss him up and then forward again. The rest of the netting having been just as tossed around as he was, all too easily hooked on to another net piece by his first dorsal. This piece looped around his chest as he was pulled back and tightened around the second dorsal spin.

Virgil clawed at the net around his chest, pulling it in an attempt to tear it, but his dorsal fin protested greatly against that action. Before he could even try to do something else, another wave snagged him. Thanks to said wave the netting loosed around his chest as he was pulled, but when he was sent forward it immediately tightened...around his gills.

Now Virgil panicked.

The net was wrapped around his gills, forcing the slits completely closed.

Automatically his body switched to air breathing...underwater.

Unable to simply push inhaled water out through his gills, it became a struggle to push the water back out his mouth. Once again he thrashed around, trying to get the net off his gills, only to be met with more pain and now dizziness. Every panicky exhale took a lot of energy--of which he already did not have much of--worse considering he had to "cough" harshly in an attempt to ventilate. He could barely get any oxygen in and he was quickly getting exhausted.

Fighting the pull of the waves, Virgil resurfaces only to just barely gasp for air before being

Battered and tossed up again. He sputters when the rain hits his face, coughing and hacking up a bit of water only to swallow more as he's tossed back down.

His dizziness increases with push and pull of the waves. He scrambles to the surface just in time to realize two very important things. First, is that he's gotten much closer to the beach, so much closer in fact that he immediately registers the second thing...He's in the center of the surge.

The waves pull him to the surface again, just as the thunder cracks, loud enough to deafen him. The rain beats down and for a moment Virgil can't feel it.

He can't feel the waves tossing him or the water itself.

He can't feel pain.

The dizziness has yet to cease, as a matter of fact it's worse than before.

He's plunged down and under with everything spinning.

He's tossed up and everything is spinning.

Back down again; spinning.

The moon, the waves, the stars, the waves and the sky that's getting blacker and blacker; all spinning.

He's pulled back, all the way to the top of the wave now. He knows this, somewhere in his head, he knows, but he can't feel it. He can't breathe and the black sky should be scary. He can't breathe but the black sky is so pretty... It dances in circles.

He's sent under--even the seafloor is spinning--and pulled up...

He can see the beach coming closer and closer to him.

He almost laughs, since when can islands move?

The Sea sent forward to learn but he doesn't find out-- the black sky, now brown-- swallows him whole.

-----

It was an ordinary Sunday for the trio.

Logan sighed and rolled his eyes at his two bickering companions behind him. They weren't too far from the beach but the drive out did start later than usual. Last night's storm, while further out to sea, still sent in some chill winds and a bit of rain. It wasn't enough to do any damage, but they had all agreed to wait for the things to die down a bit, for safety's sake. It was almost ten now and Patton and Roman had been going at it for at least an hour. Both arguing about 'who's turn it was to be the DJ', which really meant that whoever managed to steal his laptop, would oversee the playlist for today. The Pharmacist sighed internally, while he didn't particularly appreciate either of them simply commandeering his computer, he did find Virgil's reactions to the different music genres interesting. So far it seemed that he enjoyed punk/pop/rock music the most, but didn't at all mind the Disney songs that Roman and occasionally Patton would play. The mer was truly fascinating.

Hmm, would he enjoy Mozart?

The moment Logan parked, the other two rushed from out the back, trying to race to the front passenger seat to grab the coveted Laptop-

Just for it to not be there but cradled to the owner's chest.

"Logan! Come onn! It's my turn to play DJ! Patton lost fair and square!"

Logan sighed, for probably the third time this morning; only to glance at the waves and freeze.

The computer slips right out of his grasp...and three things happen at once:

Roman dives and successfully catches the Laptop before it hits the ground. There's a horrified gasp that comes from Patton and Logan himself had booked it; sliding down the rocks with little to no care for his safety.

By the time Roman stands up to brush himself off, Patton is also no longer beside him.

"What the heck Specs?! Why would you-?..." For the first time since they arrived, Roman finally took a look onto the shore- his blood ran cold.

"...Dios mio..."

There, on the high up berms of the rocky beach, was Virgil.

The giant mer lay in a crater, arms splayed out and unmoving. The sharp rocks that usually decorated the area were either cleared or crushed on impact, forming a trench that trailed from his head to the waters that barely reached the tip of his tail. Even so, what little water that could reach dipped under and pulled away with trails of red. None of them have ever seen Virgil come up this high on land. Last night's storm had apparently caused a low tide, which meant another one was coming.

And still the worst part...

The worst part was the nets.

They layered over him, two- three at a time wrapping around tightly; from in his hair one had attached, and was pulling on and most definitely cutting, into the fin spike of his first dorsal fin. Another piece looked to have connected to the same spine and wrapped underneath him. Another one was pulling the dorsal itself bending it as it attached to the second dorsal's fin spine. More and more were connected from there. From the second fin spine a net dug into the fin before the tailpiece and that fin itself was wrapped in another net piece; connected to the lower part of the tip of the tail. It was a mess and no doubt a painful one if the mer was conscious .

Roman bit his lip as tears sprung to his eyes. He had heard of dolphins, turtles and sharks getting netted by careless people. He's heard of whales stranded on garbage- filled beaches. Those seagulls choking on plastics. So many of these things, and he's heard it and seen some of it too, but nothing-nothing, compares to this.

Virgil was someone Roman thought untouchable. Sure the guy had anxiety and was too grumpy for his own good sometimes but still. Of all the great creatures he had seen, none of them could compare; Virgil was on a completely different level. And yet, for him to be wrapped up and downed by something a measly human made...

To see him like this...so still and rendered helpless.

God it hurt.

"Virgil! Virgil! Virgil! Can you hear me?!"

Shaking his head, Roman snapped out of his horror stricken stupor. Laying the laptop gently on a flat rock, he rushed down to the others.

Patton was on his knees with tears streaming down his face; his hand was clamped to his mouth, looking like he would be sick any minute.

Logan, on the other hand, was pacing around, pulling weakly at the nets; voice filled with panic as he kept trying to rouse their unconscious friend.

"Virgil! Can you hear me?!"

"I- I don't think he can specs-"

Logan grit his teeth, turning away from Roman.

"Right...", hisses the pharmacist. He clenches his fist and squeezes his eyes shut; swallowing back the burning rage and helplessness he feels at seeing his friend in such a state. "We need to get these infernal things off of him."

Before either of them could try, Patton, who had been shocked silent, spoke for the first time. "Lo-Logan-" His voice, a cracked warble as he raises a shaking hand to point.

"It's around his gills."

True to his word, the nets that wrapped underneath him had indeed pressed the mer's gill slits closed. It was only then when all three realized that Virgil's, usually, raspy breaths, were rattly far too shallow.

The three are quick to try to pulling-

But the nets don't budge, instead they're left with stinging imprints in their palms.

Logan runs a hand through his hair. His free hand, a shaking fist at his side; he exhales harshly in frustration and then he begins pacing. "This won't work. We need something that can cut it, the nets are made of metal mesh"

Biting his lip, Roman reaches into his pocket for his phone and quickly dials a number. In the din of the dread filled silence, the speaker on the phone echoes loud and clear.

"/What's up butt for brains!/"

"Remus, look, one of my friends is in a... bit of a situation. No questions, I need something to cut wire mesh"

/"No questions...huh? Aight, I know a guy, but my shift starts soon. I can send it with Remy but he's heading by Ramon's dock in a bit so-"/

"Wait, the Marina?! That's perfect! Tell him I'll meet him there!"

"/Uh, sure. If either of you fucks see Tia Valerie say 'hi' for me-"/

"You do know she's not our real aunt-"

/"Her family loaned us the sail every summer since we were pinchitos Roman, so...tell Tia Valerie I said 'hi', got it?"/

"Alright, alright! Jeez...I owe you though-"

/"Like hell you do! I'll collect my debt sometime in the unforeseen future, heh~"/

Remus hung up and Roman could swear he heard his brother's mischievous wink. Accepting his fate, he looked to Logan.

The Pharmacist wasted no time in tossing him his keys. "Go!"

With a nod, Roman's moving on that single word. He takes Logan's car and all but drives off in a hurry; the tyres screeching in protest as he goes.

"Patton"

The still shaking Barista glanced at his friend.

"Yeah, Lo?"

"Do you remember that foreign ship that last month's storm brought?

"Mhm, it was all over the Marina's website."

Logan inhaled sharply. The three of them would scan that website daily as a precaution.

The Marina was the closest thing to their beach after all and if there was any inkling of their mer friend on that site-

Well thankfully that hadn't happened as of yet.

The Pharmacist exhaled. "Right. That ship was a Skipper and it used a Purse Seine net. This is the net they lost."

"What? How do you know?"

"The insignia"

Patton blinked in confusion as Logan suddenly walked up and away. Not wanting to leave Virgil alone, the barista waited, scanning the nets for the insignia Logan had said he found.

On the second glance around, Patton spotted it. A small silver piece, no bigger than a quarter; on it was an engraved picture of a mermaid.

Logan returned with his Laptop, the screen now showing the Marina's webpage and the image of the ship with the same mermaid painted on the hull.

"According to this, a Purse seine net can reach more than 6,500 feet in length and 650 feet in depth, varying in size depending on the vessel, mesh size, and target species. The bottom of the net is drawn together by hauling in a long wire called the 'purse line' to form a huge cup shape of netting just below the surface of the water with the targeting fish inside..." Logan suddenly pauses, skin a solid shade paler. "...I saw that wire--Patton do you know what this means?" The Barista simply shakes his head, knowing Logan wasn't actually asking. "What's on Virgil isn't stray pieces of net, it's the whole net!"

Patton attempted to comfort his friend by placing a hand on his shoulder but before he could, Logan pulled away.

The Pharmacist grit his teeth, slapping closed the Laptop and shoving it under his arm. His free hand continuously scratching through his hair, he then signs out short a hysteric laugh. "If this was the whole net undamaged on a ship, Virgil would be able to break out, tearing through easily. But with the way the mesh wrapped around him.." Logan scratches through his hair again, pacing. " I never thought that something like this could ever occur but...", he laughs again, hair flopping over his glasses, "Virgil says he always avoids boats, especially trawlers-- a lot of good that did him..."

-----

Roman scans the docks, he had been there for a solid five minutes and hadn't seen who he was looking for.

Grumbling to himself about 'how people are always late when you're in a rush-'

The moment he steps out of Logan's car he accidentally bumps into Remy. The impact nearly knocked him flat on his behind, thankfully the other managed to catch him...in a one handed dip.

"Woah there cuz! I know we're not actually related but I can't have you fallin' for me hun, that's bad for business"

"Very funny Rem", Roman rolls his eyes as Remy pulls back and pulls him up.

The other shrugs, black leather jacket rustling. "Just sayin the truth babes-- and speakin' of, what's with Ree telling me to drop this stuff off for you?"

Roman blinks, only just realizing that Remy had been carrying a bucket with what looked like tools inside. He wordlessly takes the bucket from him. "Oh, yeah, I uh- kinda needed it for a friend-"

Remy lowered his shades so he could look Roman in the eye. "A friend huh? Is that why Remus pulled the 'no questions' card? Cause when he told me to get these things for him I could swear this was going to be used for a B&E--buut then he said it was for you so I figured, maybe it's for gardening...not like you can't use these things to do both," he shrugs, "but context matters doesn't it?"

"Fair, but 'no questions' Rem. Remus will owe you his favor and I'll owe him; simple as that."

"Hmf, y'all no fun babes. But fair is fair and 'no questions' has gotten me out of some pretty tight shit, so I'll drop it. No tea for me today I guess. But I do have a bit of hot tea for you~"

Roman raised a brow and Remy happily continued. "Remember Tio Ramon's ex-girlfriend Sandra? Well rumour has it, she had gotten a little too handsy with another one of the patrons-"

"Remy, what does this have to do with me?"

"Ugh, if you had patience I was gonna get there! But anyway, tl;dr Tio gets to sell the Cat"

"What?! He's selling the Catamaran? For how much?"

Remy smirked, "Real cheap. As cheap as you can rent it type cheap. Best fuckin' revenge if you ask me. I told him I'd buy it and we're currently working out the price, but I'm willing to split it between you me and Ree since we all learned to sail on the bloody thing"

Before Roman could even think up words to possibly reply with, a shrill voice rings out.

"Mis sobrinitos! ¿Como estan?"

The boys turn around to see a Latin woman on skiff, bailing out water with a bucket.

They look at each other and then look back at her and wave.

"Hi Tia Valerie!" they shout in unison, causing said woman to burst into giggles. "Did you come to help me today too Roman or is it just Remanuel-"

"Remy Tia! Just Remy. No one uses full names anymore! Not unless their in trouble-"

Valerie laughs, "well you and the twins are always in trouble so it's only fair"

Remy slaps a hand to his face, "Tiaaa!"

Roman laughs at his "cousin's" expense. "Sorry Tia but I have something important I need to do, so it's just you and Remy"

"Ah, ok! Tell Verdito I say hi"

Roman rolls his eyes, of course his brother still keeps the nickname, "sure I'll tell him"

"Ok, good...Remanuel, apurarse!"

Remy jolts looking affronted but moves anyway. Though he doesn't hesitate to pat Roman on the shoulder in parting. "Think about it cuz, next summer you and your boyfriends can sail to a nice sandy beach and have a barbeque or a sunset cruise or some other sappy shit like that."

Roman sputters, "they're not my-"

Remy already turned around, heading in Valerie's direction. "I'll text you the deets!" he calls back behind him, not even looking as he waves.

Roman shakes his head and heads for Logan's car.

A beach barbeque and a cruise? Didn't sound like a bad idea at all.

-----

Roman reaches back to the beach in record time. The moment he parks, he all but jumps out; not bothering to waste anymore time, he simply grabs the handle of the bucket and slides down the rocky slope.

He stumbles slightly but righted himself in time to avoid crashing into his equally distressed friends.

Logan is quick to look over the items in the bucket; he's pleased to see the bolt cutters but confused about the sheers, gloves and spade.

The Pharmacist raised a brow. "Gardening tools?"

"Hey it's the best he could do! It was either this, or stuff for breaking and entering--and I don't know about you but us 'gardening' sounds a lot nicer for our reputation than committing a crime, thank-you-very-much!"

Logan shakes his head. "It's fine Roman", he sighs, as he plucks up the bright orange gardener's gloves from the bucket with one hand and passes the bolt cutters to Roman with the other. " These will work", Logan says, more to himself than anyone as he puts on the gloves. Once they're on he locks eyes with Roman, "and to be honest.... I couldn't care less about our reputation or what the 'other stuff' would have entailed, so long as it would've worked. Virgil is our priority."

"Right", agrees Roman with a resound nod.

Logan repeats the action, equally as resolute. Together they move towards the downed mer.

Patton, who had been hugging Virgil's side- in a small attempt at comfort- steps back.

"I- I'll go fill the bucket with water, just... just in case"

The other two let him go, knowing that the situation was even harder on their soft-hearted friend.

"OK Roman, we need to do this carefully", gently Logan wedges his gloved fingers between an area in the mesh, "cut right here a piece at a time. It's a lot thinner than it looks but it's wrapped around in thick layers."

"Got it, one at a time. Can't exactly afford to break this thing-", mumbles Roman shaking the bolt cutters in a half-joke.

"Precisely"

Roman bites his lip and gives one internal sigh for his friend's ability to be ever so literal. He positions the cutters beneath the mesh Logan was holding and presses down.

Slowly but surely the netting starts to give way. Patton comes back with the bucket, now filled with salt water.

"Hey, it's working!" Exclaims Roman in relief filled excitement.

"I guess we'll have to be quick about cutting the other side-" pipes Patton, having come closer to inspect.

"Actually", starts Logan, "that won't be necessary, this mesh is pulled tight and stretched out above Virgil's primary dorsal fin and is pulled under him. Think of it like a rubber band, if you pull one end until it breaks-"

"It'll snap back! Got it...or don't got it", Roman pauses then huffs, trying to press the handles of the cutter together over the last piece of netting. "Logan come help me here, the mesh here is thicker than the rest, I just need to...press down-"

Crrkk!

With Logan's help, Roman finally manages to cut away the net around the gills. The netting snaps back immediately, pulling off from where it was, sliding off the dorsal fin and scraping against another layer of netting--that remained connected to the net in Virgil's hair-- to the other side with a hiss. The boys wince, that would definitely lead to a case of rope-er net burn. The mesh lands onto the rocks below with a loud thud; both sides are now free.

The moment the piece of netting is off, Virgil gasps ragedley. Hot air escaping the once closed vents as the unconscious mer suddenly coughs up a copious amount of water.

Each cough sends a visible jolt through the trapped giant's form. He coughs himself into a fit, ground and body shaking painfully until he's spitting up more sea water and then bile; heaving with a pitiful groan. The semi-viscous liquid runs down the trench and straight into the water. The boys, who had fallen on opposite side of the trench, looked on, increasingly distressed at the sheer volume.

Virgil groaned again, his heaving, and subsequent dry heaving, had finally abated; though he began coughing wetly once more. Thankfully, this time there was a significant lack of saltwater.

The moment his second coughing fit calmed, the mer's breathing immediately became less ratley. Settling ever so slowly to it's somewhat usual rasp.

Still that did very little to assuage the trio's worries.

----

Roman and Logan had to climb up and down to try to cut netting that had layered on top of each other to set the three wrapped fins free. Everytime they managed to cut a layer at the dorsals, it seemed like there was another connecting layer by the tail. Sure they could have had Roman stay at the top and Logan by the tail or vice versa, but the amount of netting actually wrapped around was thick and it required both of them to press down--lest they damage their only tool for the job. That and the fact that whenever the netting was cut, it would snap and pull back too rapidly for only one of them to catch, hissing with friction. So for the sake of not hurting their already injured friend, the two resigned themselves to their fate...and exercise.

Patton meanwhile had taken hold of the gardening sheers and began the slow, arduous process of cutting loose the net in Virgil's hair, carefully avoiding pulling too hard for fear of tugging on the already abused fin spike.

The mer groans pitifully and the Barista feels his heart break-- he also feels, Virgil's head tilt, granted that he is in the giant's hair--its when Virgil groans a second time, that Patton realizes that the mer is stirring.

He slides off the neck via the shoulders and quickly rushes to Logan and Roman who were now at the base of the merman's tail.

"I think Virgil is waking up!"

Before either Logan or Roman could turn, Patton was already running towards the mer's face.

He kept a decent distance however, just in case.

Virgil's eyes snapped open...wild in blind panic.

----

The moment he wakes, Virgil felt as if he had been tossed through a wild current and slammed repeatedly against the seafloor for the fun of it.

His entire body aches and he groans in discomfort only to find his chest tightening. He coughs, belatedly realizing that he's on land...

He's on land and he can't move his tail-

Last night flashes before him, all he can see is nets, nets, nets! His tail is still wrapped in one, he knows, he can feel the metal digging into his flesh...

A movement passes at the corner of his eye and he turns quickly to it...there's a blurry figure but it's definitely a human in front of him.

Did...did a human manage to capture him?

He growls, baring his fangs, attempting to make himself more of a threat.

His arms ache too much to possibly hold him up; his fingers and claws are cut up and definitely bleeding from when he tried and failed to claw the mesh off. He can't move so there's nothing much else he has going for him.

"Woah! Hey! Easy there kiddo, you're gonna be ok! I promise-"

Wait...he knows that voice. He blinks a few times, trying to make out the blurry figure.

"...Pat?..."

"Yeah buddy, it's me, Ro and Lo are working on getting these nets off you"

Oh. He's with his humans, he's safe.

"...good...," Virgil cringes, his voice cracked sharply and his throat was so dry it burned. He attempted to swallow but that little much else other than adding the taste of bile further down his throat.

Roman comes up, slightly out of breath.

He gives the Mer the best smile he can muster in this situation.

"Hey", he says pointing at the top of his own head in a mirror of the giant's, "nice hat".

Rolling his eyes, Virgil huffs just enough air to send Roman flat on his behind.

The human couldn't do anything but laugh.

The mer's lips twitch into a smile. He's thankful for Roman's distraction, the human's laughter helps ease some of his tension...but he's suddenly tired. His eyes droop and a sudden wave of exhaustion washes over him.

Roman pats him on the hand; he blinks, unaware that he had closed his eyes.

"Hey V, Logan says we need you to roll to the side so we can get to the fin before your tail. He says it's caught up bad in a mesh piece that goes all the way around to the top of your Dorsal fin"

Virgil grimaces, but moves to turn on to his side so that his underbelly and fin can be seen. However, when the mer attempts the motion he all but jerks, tensing and pausing at the pain that suddenly floods through him.

He yelps, tears pin pricking at the corners of his eyes.

It's then that Logan runs up and he gently places a hand on Virgil's forearm. "We still need you on your side, but you can't move your tail fin. The net is so tangled there that the pull that might literally cause you break your secondary fin spine"

With a shaky nod, Virgil positions one arm under his head and turns without moving his tail by simply leaning his toros to the side, bracing steadily with his other arm.

The humans step back and gasp.

Beneath the mer is completely red.

Blood begins to trickle down freely, leading from the trench and straight into the water.

-----

In panic, Patton takes the bucket of water on to the now exposed underbelly, rinsing the layer of blood off a section. Quickly, he runs to the sea to refill the bucket and repeats the process.

Virgil hisses at the sting but he doesn't move.

Once it's as rinsed as a human could possibly reach. The trio can clearly see how Virgil's underbelly is cut up and mottled with various sized bruises.

Logan and Patton share a sigh of relief.

The Pharmacist puts a hand to his chest, exhaling shakily. "He's ok, thank goodness"

Roman stares at him incredulously.

"Okay? Logan, look at him! He looks like that eraser Remus and I used to stab with our pencils in middle school"

"They're bruises Roman and what looks like a couple... dozen thin and or quite shallow lacerations; all in all nothing apparently fatal. I was worried we'd bear witness to an evisceration"

Roman pales considerably.

"His-his skin is thick enough for that not- for...for that not to happen right?"

"It would seem so for this case, but his underbelly has significantly less scales than the rest of him. As I mentioned, he doesn't have any deep wounds-"

"Then what's with all the blood?!"

"Remember the time you stepped on a thumbtack and it kept bleeding?"

"But that went in deep"

"Right, new analogy then...hmm" put his finger to his chin, "oh! I've got one, think paper cuts. Very painful, very shallow and bleed excessively when pressure is applied to them"

Roman nods, with a panicked exhale, " ok papercuts, I can deal with papercuts" he says to himself as he begins pacing, scratching his fingers in his hair; ruining it. Something he absolutely abhorred doing. "Papercuts not guts, papercuts not guts. Paper-", he freezes locking eyes with Logan. "...no guts?"

"No guts", confirms Logan.

"Right, right...ok. He's ok", Roman takes a deep breath, attempting to calm himself. "Ok, we need to get him out of those nets"

Logan wordlessly hands him the bolt cutters.

----

Up and down the two go again.

Roman and Logan carefully climbed up to Virgil's first Dorsal fin only to realize the connecting mesh was on the second one. They move to said fin and cut the metallic net piece, only to find another section connected to the lower lobe of the tail fin. Down they go to cut that mesh piece to find that it also connects to the fin in front. Biting his lip Roman moves to the small fin in front of Virgil's tail, he doesn't know what it's called and at this point his not going to bother asking. All he knows is that from this position he could see more of his friend's blood slowly start to cover his deep bruises. Grimacing Roman refocuses on his task; Logan puts his gloved fingers under the mesh and he places the bolt cutters and presses down...

CRRK!

The net snaps, whipping back--and off the fin it had wrapped around-- as it bounced up, now hanging on the secondary fin spine. With the smaller fin now free, the two return to the lower part of the tail fin and cut the mesh there. Only a portion of it came loose as the other part of the mesh was wrapped around the second fin spine, so back up they went. At the top they removed the free hanging piece before cutting the piece connected to the tail-

The moment they did that the mesh and what apparently was the 'purse line' snapped, lashing out and whipping a sharp mark into the mer's underbelly.

The humans wince as Virgil cries out.

His whole body shaking in visible pain as he fights hard not to move.

Roman and Logan look at each other, they shout out an apology and receive a barely restrained whimper in response. Wincing again, the two move to quickly cut the mesh around the secondary fin spine- this which wrapped around the second dorsal fin itself. They manage to cut that piece, freeing the second Dorsal fin completely...and displaying the cuts and bruises caused by the constriction.

They were about to move to the first Dorsal fin when a loud thud echoed.

The pair turned to see that Patton had thrown the nets from Virgil's hair onto to the rocks below.

"Nice one Pat!" Exclaims Roman...until he sees the blood dripping down the hand Patton was holding the sheers in. His eyes widen, "...Pat?..."

Patton smiles sadly at him, then he looks at his injured hand. "These nets sure are sharp, huh? Worse when they snap backwards. It's not a deep cut, don't worry Roman, it just hasn't stopped bleeding yet, that's all-"

"Patton", starts Logan shakily, " there's a first aid kit in the trunk of my car, please bandage your wound, I can not stand to see more of my friends get hurt today"

"It's really not that bad-"

"Please"

The barista pauses, it's rare to see Logan as disconcerted as he was, he looked ready to have a break down at any moment; something which, at the moment, would most definitely not be ideal. Patton nods sharply and then slides down, heading for Logan's car.

Logan sighs shakily, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. He takes a deep stuttering breath before moving to the Dorsal fin; Roman follows numbly behind.

They managed to free Virgil's first Dorsal to see it equally abused as the second. However, the mer's first fin spine remained wrapped by a piece of mesh that connected to another piece... which was wrapped around the lower lobe of the tail.

Sighing, they slide down.

Patton returns with a strip of gauze wrapped around the center and tied to the back of his palm. Logan takes one look at the sloppy work and immediately unties it, wrapping it properly around the center of his friend's hand.

Meanwhile, Roman was mouthing a question to Patton--who simply mouthed back a 'don't worry about it'--once Logan was finished, he wordlessly went right back to finding the weak point in the mesh around he tail.

His friends behind him simply shrug, just Logan things...

they left it as such, they had more pressing matters to deal with anyway.

Once the weak point was found, it was a quick thing, cutting away at the mesh and freeing the tailpiece. Like the others before, once cut, the mesh snapped and bounced itself up- this time however, when it bounced it practically launched itself up and off of the mer. Having been made loose by cutting it at the base, when the mesh became airborne it slipped right off the fin spine, freeing the trapped giant completely.

The three humans cheered.

But the notion was short lived.

The moment Virgil's tail was free, the limb twitched and the merman shakily turned. Trembling as he managed to position himself head first--still within the trench-- closer to the water. Unfortunately, before he could drag himself down any further, his arms gave out. Thankfully, he had managed to catch himself by bracing on his elbows, so it was more of a crash down rather than a face plant.

The injured mer instinctively shifted onto his side, immediately curling in on himself; his pectoral and pelvic fins hugging his underside while his tail curled upwards to his face.

The fetal position.

Virgil groaned as he lay there, a solid sound of both pain and relief. He's barely aware of his humans' footsteps as they come running towards him.

There's a muted ringing in his ears, he knows they're asking him something but he can't make it out. Worse with the dark spots dancing in his already blurring vision. He huffs out an uncomfortably dry exhale and his eyes rolled back; far too exhausted to stay awake any longer.

Patton failed to stifle a sob and Roman flinched. Seeing your friend pass out after something like this wasn't exactly easy to handle. Logan walked up and placed his hand on Virgil's forehead. If his eyes were watery, no one said anything.

"We-", Logan winced as his voice cracked, "...we should let him rest"

The other two nodded.

With the mer unconscious again. The three humans worked together to drag the mess of netting far from their aquatic friend.

----

By the time they fully managed to drag and stuff all of it into the back of Logan's car, an hour or so had passed and Virgil had started to stir. Patton ran down to check, while Roman and Logan were still struggling to close the back.

Patton reaches in time to see the mer blearily open his eyes. The human kept a little bit of a distance, recalling what had happened the first time the giant woke. "Hey buddy, how are you feeling?"

Unlike the last time, the mer recognized him immediately and there was no panic in his eyes, though there was something else.

"Dizzy", rumbled out the giant through a grimace, his entire form radiating exhaustion.

Patton frowns, placing a hand on Virgil's forehead. The merman leans to the touch, eyes closing again.

"Guys?!" The barista shouts, alarmed, "he's burning up!"

Logan somehow reaches before Roman, placing his hand right next to Patton's. The Pharmacist bites his lip, then pats the giant's face to rouse him. "Virgil, you need to get back into the water. Your fever will only get worse if you don't"

The Mer huffs, knowing that his human was right but dreading the fact that he had to move. Still, his lungs/gills were uncomfortably dry and the faster he entered the water the better he'd feel.

Carefully rising, Virgil moves sluggishly with a grimace, barely managing as his arms and shoulders shake. His head hurts and he feels extremely lightheaded and dizzy, nausea bubbling in the back of his throat. To make matters worse his tail twinges in pain with every flex of the muscle. He whines, pained and pitiful.

Patton and Roman cheer him on, coaxing him to keep moving...but he can't.

His neck bows under the pressure and strain of the pounding in his head. The pain pulsed relentlessly between his ears and his eyes. The only thing holding him up was his shaking elbows which soon gave out and the mer found himself, once again, sprawled on the ground. He's closer to the water sure, but he's also very far from it.

He groans, gills flaring and breathing rapidly at the exertion. It makes his lungs/gills and throat all the drier.

Logan pats him on the arm, "rest for a bit and then we can try again later ok?"

The giant nods again, unable to do more as he tries to catch his breath. The dry air makes his head spin faster and the nausea worse.

He closes his eyes.

The second time Virgil tries, his head is spinning so badly that he almost tilts when he rises on his palms. He manages to drag himself a bit further, but before he can get too far, the nausea takes over and he gags. He falls again, dry heaving and then coughing as he gasps for breath. His entire form shuddering in pain.

The third time...the third time Virgil had gotten the farthest, but once he fell, he couldn't find the strength to even lift his head, much less his arms to drag the rest of him.

His eyes closed again.

----

The mer lays miserable on the beach, shuddering as chills wrack through his injured form.

Patton passes a long white beach towel to Roman-- who is currently on top of Virgil's hair-- and he spreads the towel gently on the downed mer's forehead. Logan pulls another wet towel from the bucket and passes it to Patton; the cycle repeats. There are at least four towels overlapping--two on top and two directly under-- as one big makeshift cold rag.

Virgil hadn't stirred since his third attempt at moving and Logan thought it best, considering the situation, to allow the mer to rest while they figured out a way to lower his fever. This of course led to Patton's idea of using their towels. It was a good thing that he always kept--and often forgot--extra towels in Logan's car.

The mer wakes after the second time the trio of humans had re-dampened the towels. Not shivering as much but definitely sore. He wakes because Roman had screamed bloody murder when it was his turn to fill the bucket of water.

"There's a shit ton of sharks here!"

"Well duh Ro", snarks Patton, "Virgil's belly is still bleeding, of course they'd be here"

"But-!"

"Just bring the water, I think Virgil's waking up- Woah!"

Apparently waking up didn't mean awake. When the mer stirred the first thing he did was pull Patton towards him. The human squeaked as he was placed somewhere between a hand and a cheek.

"Patton!" Logan and Roman cry in distressed unison.

"Don't worry!" calls Patton as he frees a hand to wave, "he's not really holding me tightly at all!"

Roman snorts, bringing up the bucket of water. "Looks like you're his teddy bear Pat"

Patton giggles, "looks like!... but we really do need him up..", with a grunt Patton frees his other arm and pushes against Virgil's cheek. "Come on Virge, we need to get you back in the water"

The giant huffs, wrinkling his nose, but did not stir further.

Patton tried again but was met with the same result.

Roman, on the other hand, cleared his throat, then cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Virgil, you're gonna squish him!" He yelled.

Now that got the mer to jolt up.

The towels falling off when he swung his head sharply, panic racing through him as he tensed, almost dropping Patton when he was checking the human over.

Roman cackled, but Patton was unimpressed.

"Roman!" He admonishes," that was mean! I told you I was fine!"

"Sorry, but you wanted him awake!~"

Virgil deadpans, while Patton shrugs sheepishly.

Logan rolls his eyes at the two but advises the giant that he should get in the water before his fever gets worse. Virgil whines, wanting nothing more than to rest further; still with Patton cheering him on and two more breaks he slowly makes his way to the water.

The Sweet, sweet, blessed salt water.

The mer all but happily rests, letting his gills take in water and finally get rid of the uncomfortable dryness. His throat still parched and his body ached but one thing at a time-

Virgil saw something flash passed from the corner of his eye, followed immediately by a sharp pain radiating up from his tail. Suddenly, he was angry. Exhaustion? Dizziness? Gone. Pain? What pain? He was HUNGRY.

One of the sharks had thought it wise to bite the mer's already abused tailfin--Virgil took a bite out of It. And then another shark and another. The frenzy grew, lost in the scent of blood, unaware or uncaring of the far larger predator in their midst; and Virgil took full advantage of that. Whatever foolishly came too close to his mouth, swam too slow or was in grabbing range-food.

"Well Roman", started Logan as he jabbed said friend with an elbow, "I guess you don't have to worry about the sharks anymore, Virgil seems to have got you covered with that"

Roman shakes his head at the pharmacist but remains steadfast, not really wanting to look but at the same time unable to look away at the carnage in front of him.

The giant made quick work of the sharks, it didn't take more than a few minutes as they either dispersed or were eaten.

When the water finally cleared and the blood lust faded, Virgil winced, the pain of every one of his movements came rushing back at him with full force, bringing the exhaustion back with it as well.

Turning the mer headed back to shore, where he could see his human friends waiting. He blushed slightly realizing how he must've looked to them while in the middle of a feeding frenzy.

He didn't go as close as he usually would, for fear of getting stranded-- and fear of scaring Roman and possibly Patton-- but he didn't have to come up much as the trio practically ran at him in the water.

He's met with cheers and small hands trying to hug his face.

He leant into their touch, feeling a bit better and a lot more tired.

Logan warns him that another storm is likely coming later that night.

"You should stay close", he says, "...just in case. I would also like to come visit tomorrow morning to check on you, if that's alright?"

Virgil agrees.

Patton keeps hugging him, "well you know that means I'm coming too!"

"And me!" pipes Roman with a grin, "I can't not tease you about those sharks after all"

---

True to Logan's word there's a storm that evening and it's even bigger than the previous one.

Virgil actually did something he rarely ever did. He slept that night on the beach.

Farther down shore than he would be when dealing with his humans, but still.

His torso was lower in the water, adding to the novelty of the high-tide while his head was pillowed on his arms above the water.

For the second time in a night, the mer fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

---

It's a chilly Monday as Logan drives the other two down to the beach.

Patton and Roman are quiet, the former asleep and the latter half-way there but futilely fighting it. The Pharmacist couldn't help but smile softly at the two through the rear view mirror.

All of them had spent the night at Patton's place, it was the closest to the beach and after a quick trip of probably disposing the net and going to get their stuff from their apartments; the trio had agreed to leave early in the morning to check on Virgil. They would have to leave earlier than usual to check and then head for work and that brings them to their current situation.

Patton was now leaning on Roman's chest--tucked under his chin--snoring softly. Roman himself had given up the fight with his eyelids and now had his head resting on top of Patton's.

Logan yawned, but shook himself further awake, they were getting close.

The Sunrise greeted them the moment they stepped out of the car-- well more like the moment Logan dragged a half awake and even less awake Patton out of the vehicle--

It was beautiful how the violet and pink rays spread out across the sky. Illuminating the beach with the upcoming dashes of yellow and orange. Casting a gentle light on everything...including the still form of the giant merman on the beach.

The sight woke everyone up fully, a shot of fear through their hearts and adrenaline pulsed throughout their bodies.

The three of them didn't waste time, no hesitation at all as they sprinted to the shore to reach their friend.

"Virgil?!" Logan called, his voice a slightly higher pitch than usual.

The mer didn't so much as twitch.

"Virg-"

"Hey specs, hold up, listen", Roman placed a finger to his lips. The other two went silent-

There it was, the sound of soft snores.

They sighed in relief.

Logan sits down on a rock for a moment, eyes closed with his hand pressed to his chest.

Roman places a comforting hand on his shoulder, feeling very much the same way.

Patton, on the other hand, tries to rouse the mer; wanting to make sure that he was truly alright.

He goes nudging his full body against the giant's cheek. "Hey Virge...need you to wake up for a bit bud." Thankfully after doing so twice, the merman finally begins to stir.

"...ngh.."

Virgil wakes slowly.

His eyes blearily open, groggy exhaustion heavily present within them. He barely manages to glance at his humans before his eyes close on him again.

His cheek is nudged again and the mer whines, unhappy at his slumber having been disturbed.

Patton laughs and goes to hug his nose, "you and me both kiddo, it's way too early for this,huh? But we still need you up, just for a little bit I promise"

Virgil groans, huffing softly, he nuzzles a bit into Patton's hold before opening his eyes.

The Human takes the queue, stepping back beside Roman and Logan as the mer rises on his elbows. Virgil propps his chin on his psalm, the other hand rubbing his eye as he yawns.

Roman doesn't even bother to admonish the giant about it this time. The poor guy looked well and truly exhausted. "Did you sleep at all?"

"Mhm", the mer nods, now rubbing the other eye, "...still tired though..."

"I can imagine", adds Logan as he pats the sleepy giant on the arm, "healing takes energy and considering all that your body went through yesterday, it's no wonder you're exhausted"

Virgil hums in response, laying back down and pillowing his head with his arms.

"Your fever seems to have abated but do you still feel dizzy or light headed?", Continues Logan, concerned.

The mer shakes his head, hardly registering, "...'m jus...rlly sleepy..", he mumbles, eyes already closing.

The trio looked at each other before looking at the now less than half awake mer.

Patton, place a small kiss on the tip of the giant's nose. "Get some rest ok Virge?"

"...m'k..."

Roman chuckles, patting Virgil's index finger. "Sweet dreams, ya sleepy sea bass!"

"..hnn.."

Logan rolls his eyes good-naturedly at the other two. He had to admit though, the mer fighting with his eyelids was a rather cute sight. "We'll come back to check on you this evening, is that alright?"

"...mhm..."

Virgil was long asleep before Logan reached his car.

----

It's somewhere in the afternoon when Virgil shoots up awake.

He blinked, confused for a moment and wondering if everything had been a dream-- the twinge of pain from his tail and the dull throb from his underbelly stated otherwise--his cheeks colored a bit when he recalled this morning's interaction with his humans. Then again, he honestly had no idea that he'd be that exhausted despite sleeping longer than usual.

Huffing, the mer carefully drags himself back into the water. Sure he could have simply floated closer to shore-- and his bruises would have probably thanked him for it-- but his anxiety of getting re-tangled prevented him from doing so. Thus, the night on the beach.

Moving wasn't too bad, he wasn't as dizzy as yesterday but he was beyond thirsty. Since there were no proper estuaries to drink fresh water from on the island, that meant he would have to swim for about two to three hours to find a secluded one at the mainland.

On a good day swimming that distance wouldn't be too bad, but considering his current condition, getting to fresh water took far longer and was far more painful than it had any right being. Still, quenching his thirst and not dying from dehydration was a bit more important than his comfort.

When he drank his fill, Virgil made the slow swim back to the beach. His humans had said they'd come to check on him--a sweet notion that made him a bit warm inside--and he wasn't one to miss their meetings.

He managed to grab some handfuls of kelp on the way, happy to munch on low effort food. He winced then, realizing that hunting was going to be a bit difficult now that adrenaline wasn't covering up the pain; still though, those sharks made a decent enough meal and with the added kelp he should be ok up until the end of the week...hopefully.

By the time he reached the shore and managed to get himself somewhat on land, the humans had arrived.

----

The trio was glad to see that their mer was far more coherent this evening than he was in the morning.

Roman of course teased him, though not too badly.

Logan had asked to access his injuries, requiring him to lean on his side so the human could see his underbelly. Thankfully, according to the Pharmacist, there was no sign of infection, but he wanted to keep watch and check in again the next day and the next...just in case.

Virgil didn't really mind, more time to hang out with his humans right? The only problem of course was the early morning wake up calls, but Patton and Logan had made that up on their,'holiday given', day off, where they happily took a nap with him.

This routine repeated up to a week and half when he was finally feeling better. His scratches and cuts had scabbed over but the bruises and the net burns had lasted longer.

Now after every storm, the trio find their way to the beach as early as possible to see their giant friend either asleep or already waiting for them on their beach.

END.