Love Deeper than the Sea (mer!teen!lock)

i - s h e r l o c k

"Go away! I don't have time to deal with you!"

I slam the door on my annoying brother and reach for my satchel, woven from sturdy kelp. Mycroft hammers on the door, pounding with his fists and tail. I ignore him, shoving books into the satchel. I grab a few more small items and stow them safely inside before turning to the window.

"William - Sherlock - Scott - Holmes - you - come - out - here - right - now!" Mycroft punctuates his words by hammering the door. I can tell from the vibrations in the water that he's slapping it with his tail. I sling the satchel over my shoulder and flex my tail.

"No," I say quietly, adjusting the strap. I pull my upper body through the window and am just about to pull my tail through when Mycroft flings the door open. His almost-black storm-gray tail glints in the warped sunlight that reaches us here on the ocean floor.

"And just where," he says, in a dangerously low voice, "do you think you're going?" He thrusts his right hand out towards me, and ripples of boiling water shoot towards me. I slam my tail down on the floor and spikes of rock shoot up to block Mycroft's attack.

Thrusting my body out the window, I spin quickly in a torpedo, zipping away as fast as I can. I can feel jets of boiling water zip past me as Mycroft fires again and again. One of them hits my face, another my arm. I wince, spiraling out of my torpedo spin and nearly hitting a towering rock.

Another blast from Mycroft hits me square in the chest, and I am thrown backward into a wall of stone. My head is spinning, and so is the world around me.

As dizzy as I am, I can still hear my annoying brother barking orders at the guards, still feel the vibrations as they swim towards me. They're just going to lock me up again, keep me hidden away from everyone until they find me someone to marry. This, of course, is ridiculous, as I have neither the wish nor intent to marry any of the merpeople in this ridiculous kingdom.

I regain control of myself as my brother appears in front of me, flanked by his boyfriend Gavin or Gerard or something-with-a-G Lestrade - Captain of the Royal Guard - and at least seven more officers. They're all accompanied by either a swordfish or an electric eel, ready to shock or stab me into submission at the flick of a tail.

"Do regain some sensibility, brother," Mycroft sighs. "Come along quietly, now. I'd hate to explain to Mother why you're all banged up. Again. For the third time this month, Sherlock."

"Come on, Sherlock," his ridiculous boyfriend coaxed. "It's not so bad at the palace."

"Maybe not for you!" I retorted. "You've got my brother to snog and shag at all hours of the day and night - and before you even try to deny it, remember that I can and will deduce you in front of your men."

The soldiers all snicker amongst themselves. Lestrade turns as red as a starfish, but miraculously my ridiculous Crown Prince of a brother maintains his composure.

"This is getting ridiculous, Sherlock," he snaps. "You really must stop."

I let Mycroft prattle on for as long as he wants, giving me more time to work on my escape plan. There's no way I'm getting out of this with brute force - not my forte, and I'm badly outnumbered anyway. I could use my intelligence to confuzzle all of these ridiculous soldiers long enough to make an escape, but my idiot brother is there, and unfortunately he's not an idiot - not in that respect. He'll see through any of my attempts.

Mycroft has been slowly inching forward, and before I realize it he's backed me up against the against the stone cliff. My palms are pressed against the wall, and suddenly my mind is flooded with information. I mentally berate myself for not realizing sooner that this was the answer - using my powers.

I close my eyes in concentration; Mycroft interprets it as surrender. His tone softens slightly.

"Come on, little brother. Let's go home."

My eyes burst open. "Not on your life."

I slam my tail against the rock wall, and it caves away beneath me, creating a passage. There's a rush of water flooding into the cavern that I've just created, and I will it upwards, using the power of the water as well as my own strength to carve out a tunnel.

The sudden water current throws the soldiers, Lestrade, and my brother off balance. Before they realize what's happened, I've thrown myself into the current flooding through the cavern and blockaded the entrance with rocks. As the water carries me through the tunnel, I bring rocks crashing down to fill the tunnel back up the way it was. Sensing where the rock leads. I thrust the tunnel up, up, up until I burst out of the tunnel. As it fills behind me, I realize that I'm inside a round cavern, approximately thirty-five feet in diameter, and that the water is about fifteen feet deep. It's very clear water, with sunshine streaming through. I swim up to the surface and poke my head up to see a massive opening in the cave's rocky roof.

From the sun's position, it's about one o'clock, maybe a little after. Reflections of the water play on the cave's roof and walls, making shimmery light patterns that twinkle and vanish.

I look down and realize that my torso and arms are already beginning to blister; Mycroft's boiling water jets have injured me, and badly. I need some sort of medic, but I can't go back - for several reasons.

1) I've just escaped that insufferable palace and my insufferable bastard of a brother and have no wish to go back.

2) I have no idea where I am in relation to where I live - lived, I suppose.

The pain starts hitting full force. I grunt and slump against the rocky ledge overlooking the water. I sense a crevice a few feet up, filled with objects, but before anything else I sense the vibrations of something pounding. Something approaching.

Without hesitation, I dive underwater, hiding under an overhang of rock underwater. Pressing my hand against the rock, I sense someone settling onto the rock.

A human.

Cautiously, I peer out from the overhang. Mycroft thinks that humans are stupid, but dangerous - they'll hurt us, put us on display. But I intend to form my own opinions about that.

When I peer out of the overhang, someone is peering down through the crystal-clear water at me. We make eye contact, and then without hesitation the human is leaping into the water.