Brock could barely hear over the roar of the storm, but he determinedly kept moving on. The hurricane had hit them about an hour before, and Brock, Tyler, Jon and Chrissy had all been called forward to do some extra securing.
"Chrissy, help Jon! That rope is coming loose!" Brock yelled, pointing at a pallet of pipes as he helped Tyler pull a rope that was meant to secure the levers to the drill. Chrissy sprinted over, grabbing the rope next to Jon and pulling hard.
"Brock watch out!" Tyler yelled, shoving him aside. Brock landed hard but looked up to see a knotted rope flying by where he'd been standing, him gritting his teeth and getting back up.
They timed their pulls with the gusts of wind, able to be seen by the water rushing around the ship. "Now!" Brock yelled over and over, hair plastered to his face as he tried to get a solid grip on the rope with his wet working gloves.
Finally they were able to secure the rope again, tying it down with an expert knot before running to help Chrissy and Jon with the pallets.
A flash of lightning lit the area a moment, the four ducking down as it struck the lightning rod on the peak of the oil rig. "We gotta hurry!" Brock demanded, pushing the pallet to try and get it closer to the others so they could secure it all with tarp.
Brock fought with Tyler to hold the tarp in place, Chrissy and Jon rushing to tie it down. The tarp flung out and smacked Brock, the man flying back from the impact and sliding to the edge of the rig.
He quickly grabbed the railing, hauling himself back up and rushing back to finish helping. He could feel a burning sting on his cheek and figured he'd probably gotten a cut, but he could deal with that later.
Chrissy ran past him, hair flying everywhere as she quickly grabbed another rope and started winding it down to tie. Brock shoved the pallet again, the wind trying to push it back.
Another bolt of lightning hit the rod, the crash making Brock's ears ring. "Last one!" Jon yelled, pulling hard on the rope in his hands. Brock was out of breath, barely able to see and just prayed internally this would hold fast until the storm was over.
"Brock look out!" Tyler screamed, Brock looking over to see a pallet break loose and slide fast at him. He tried to jump out of the way, but his feet slipped at he hit the ground, the pallet ramming into him and shoving him over the edge of the rig.
"Brock!" He heard screamed as he fell, him taking a quick rapid breath just before he hit the water. He sank fast, but kicked hard to try to get back to the surface.
Just as he broke to the top and took a breath, a wave slammed into him and shoved him back down, Brock spiraling fast with the current.
Panic was filling him, his lungs bursting with the need to breathe. He couldn't see the way up for a moment, but a flash of lightning shone above the water and he rapidly swam towards it.
But another undercurrent yanked him just before he broke surface, shoving him back down. He slammed into a pillar, his breath rushing out and filling with water.
Just as his vision started going black, he felt arms wrap around him tightly. He was moved quickly through the waves and broke surface, Brock coughing and sputtering as water poured from his mouth and oxygen replaced it.
He looked hazily at his rescuer, frowning confused at the man with vivid blue eyes, messy brown hair and, scales around his eye?
"Who-" he rasped, coughing as the word scraped his throat from the sea water. They were moving fast through the waves, the water seemingly avoiding the two as the man grabbed Brock's waist and shoved him to the ladder.
"Go!" He demanded, Brock grabbing the metal weakly and forcing his muscles to haul him up. He got a few steps up before stopping, turning to look at his rescuer. He was gone, but Brock caught sight of a red and black shimmer in the distance before fading below the waves.
He shook his head and forced himself up the ladder, hearing his friends yelling. "Tyler!" He called weakly, coughing hard at the sound.
"Brock! He's over here!" Tyler yelled, Brock hauling himself onto the ship and laying flat on his back. Hands grabbed him, lifting him up and throwing his arms over two peoples shoulders.
Tyler and Jon quickly carried him inside, Chrissy following quickly. As soon as they were inside, storm doors bolted shut, Tyler and Jon set Brock on a couch as Chrissy rushed off for a first aid kit and a bottle of water.
"What happened? How'd you get back?" Tyler asked worriedly, handing Brock a towel as he rubbed his own hair dry.
"I don't know, I didn't think I'd survive. I broke surface once and got shoved back down, hit my head on one of the stilts holding the ship up. Knocked my breath out and I swallowed a lot of water. But just as I was going to give up, someone grabbed me and brought me to the ladder. I- I don't know who he was, but he had scales on his face and hands," he whispered, frowning as he rubbed the towel gingerly against the bump on his head.
"Scales? Did you hit your head a little too hard?" Tyler asked doubtfully and Brock shrugged. "I don't know, probably. But there is no way I would have gotten to the ladder on my own, someone grabbed me and brought me to it," he said and Jon hummed.
Chrissy returned, handing Brock the bottle of water to take a few drinks, a couple ibuprofen and a first aid kit. "You've got a pretty bad cut on your cheek, and your temple," she said, frowning as she soaked a rag with peroxide and dabbed it lightly against his face.
Brock made a face at the burn but kept his eyes on Tyler and Jon, who just gazed back. "We'll figure it out later Brock, for now we need to get you rehydrated after all that sea water and wait out this storm. Hopefully everything holds until this is over," Tyler said calmly and Brock nodded, waiting for Chrissy to put the bandage on his cheek.
It took nearly 3 hours for them to hit the eye of the storm and Brock and all his coworkers rushed out to do some quick maintenance and securing. Once the work was done, everyone started filing back inside for the next wave.
But Brock stood by the ladder, eyes on the waves below him. Tyler, Jon, Chrissy, John, Marcel and Lui joined him, the three men having told their friends what had happened to Brock.
"I know what I saw," Brock said quietly and Tyler sighed. "You hit your head really hard Brock, and it was dark. You could have just seen something strange," he said and Brock glared at him.
"Then how did I get to the ladder? There's no way in any chance I would have gotten there myself, someone brought me there," he insisted, turning his eyes back to the water.
He could feel his friends' eyes on him and he just shook his head, crossing his arms. "Come on, let's get back inside, it's starting to rain," Brock said quietly, turning and leading his friends back.
They followed quietly, Brock lost in his thoughts. He could still see the vividness of those blue eyes, shining in the darkness. He knew he'd seen scales on the man's skin, and the flash of red when he'd been on the ladder, what was that?
They all sat around riding out the storm, Brock leading planning as a senior member. He assigned teams of who would do what once the storm was over, knowing a lot of clean up and maintenance would be needed.
It took nearly 5 hours for the worst of the storm to pass, everyone getting their assignments and filing out once they got the green light. Brock took the time to direct everyone to their stations, waiting for everyone to get started before joining Tyler, Lui and John at the main drill to do maintenence.
They worked till long after dark, the storm giving away to show bright stars in the sky. Once Brock and the other leaders were satisfied, everyone went to take showers and go to bed.
Brock and his friends stayed out a bit longer, even if he was exhausted from all the work and his near drowning experience. Brock went to stand by the edge where he'd fallen off, hands on the railing as he stared at the now calm water.
"Are you still thinking about what had happened?" Tyler asked exasperated and Brock glared at him. "Yes, I am Tyler. I don't get it, I want to know who saved my life but how and why was he in the water and how did he survive?" He asked bewildered, rubbing his forehead.
"I don't know Brock, I still think you were just hallucinating. Adrenaline can do insane things, added onto your knock upside the skull," Tyler said and Brock groaned irritated, letting his head fall onto his arms on the railing.
"Hello?" They all heard and Brock's head shot up, them all looking behind them to see no one. "Down here!"
The group looked down at the water, Brock gasping as those vivid blue eyes locked with his own. "You!" He gasped and Tyler hissed, "What the fuck?"
"Are you doing okay? You hit your head really hard earlier, I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner," the man asked worriedly, arms moving with the water below him.
"Yeah, uh, I'm fine. Who are you? Where'd you come from? How'd you survive the storm?" Brock demanded, eyes locked on the man as if he'd disappear again.
"Oh, easy, I swam. I'm Brian," he said and Brock frowned. "You swam? How did you swim? Those currents were insane," he demanded, ignoring the man's name for a moment.
"The currents listen to me, duh," Brian said with an eye roll and Brock frowned confused. He glanced at his friends, who looked just as dumbfounded as he felt.
"We've been keeping an eye on you guys, all of you. We've seen how you take care of the ocean and it's creatures, and we really do appreciate it. I'm just happy I was here when you fell in, uh, what's your name?" Brian asked and Brock frowned.
"I'm Brock. Keeping an eye on us? Who all have been watching us?" He asked and Brian disappeared under the waves. "Hey!" Brock called, eyes scanning the water quickly to see where Brian had gone.
A moment later, he reappeared with 5 other people beside him. "What the fuck?" Jon gasped, a man with brown eyes grinning at him. Brock was more focused on the way this man's ears were pointed and sharp, as grey as a sharks fin.
A woman with fiery red hair waved, her fingers webbed together with bright red scales. Brian crossed his arms, red and black fins protruding from his forearms.
A man with wild black hair and green eyes waved cheerfully, his ears also pointed and a smattering of green scales along his collarbone and chest. Another man with curly brown hair, seashells around his neck and blue and red fins sticking out from his arms.
"You guys are-" Jon whispered, Brock staring shocked. "Merpeople? Yeah, we are. We don't ever show ourselves to humans, but we've been watching you specifically for the last few years and we appreciate everything you've done for the ocean. We wanted to meet you," Brian said and Brock blinked a few times, looking at Tyler and Marcel shocked.
"But yeah, I'm Brian, this is Evan, Daithi, Kris, Scotty, and Smiity," Brian said, pointing at each of the people beside him. Brock swallowed, shaking off the shock to answer.
"I'm Brock, this is Tyler, Jon, Marcel, Chrissy, Lui, Anthony and John, or Kryoz if you'd prefer. It's annoying having two Jon's around," he said and Brian laughed, Brock mesmerized.
"It's nice to meet you all. If you ever need our help, use this. Daithi?" Brian asked, Daithi lifting a sand dollar from the water and holding it up. Brock watched amazed as it lifted into the air, him holding his hands out as it landed gently into them.
"Just toss that into the water after whispering help, it'll send Kris your coordinates. Once we find and help you, it'll return to your hands," Brian explained, Brock staring at the object in shock.
"Why would you help us?" Jon asked curiously and Evan grinned. "Like Brian said, we've been watching you guys for years. We've seen you risk your lives to save each other and the ocean life, and we believe that goodness deserves some reward. We'll be around, yeah?" He said, the others waving as they dove back into the water.
Brock and his friends watched wide eyed as multicolored tails vanished into the waves, Brian grinning up at them. "If you ever want to see us without needing help, just stand there and say my name. We'll come if it's safe," he said and Brock nodded slowly.
"Thank you, by the way, for saving me earlier. I never would have survived if it wasn't for you," he said quickly yet gratefully and Brian gave him a salute.
"No problem Brock. I'm glad you're okay. See you around," he said, smiling one last time before diving into the waves. That red and black tail disappeared into the water, Brock and his friends staring in shock.
"I fucking told you I wasn't hallucinating!" Brock finally cheered, jabbing Tyler with a single finger. "Ow, fucking hell, I'm sorry I didn't believe you at first! What, you think it's normal for your friend to come back from nearly drowning and say a man saved him while covered in scales?" Tyler demanded, rubbing his ribs where Brock had jabbed him.
"You could have given me the benefit of a doubt, I don't make shit up like that," he said with an eye roll and Tyler sighed.
"Holy fuck guys, we just met merpeople," Jon gasped, grabbing Marcel's and John's arms. "They're fucking real."
Brock laughed disbelievingly, looking at the sand dollar in his hand. He'd have to put this in a safe place so it didn't break, not wanting to lose the connection to their new friends.
"Come on, I wanna shower and get to bed. We have a long fucking day ahead of us tomorrow," Tyler said and they all nodded, heading inside.
Brock carefully placed the sand dollar into his locker under his spare uniform, locking it again. He grabbed his night clothes and headed to the shower, getting under the spray to wash the salt from his hair and skin.
While washing, his thoughts turned to Brian and the others. Other merpeople. They were real, and Brock had met some. Brian had saved his life.
He shook his head incredulously, wiping soap off his face and rinsing his hair. The world just got that much more insane and bigger, and he didn't know how to feel about it.
Idk how to end this, so imma just end it there lmao. I hope yall enjoyed! Kisses!!
~Banana