Chapter Text
Sibling rule: you can call your sibling an idiot and stupid, but if anyone else does, then they better get ready to throw hands.
Kaiko and Will had decided to send their children to a science camp because they figured that being cooped up on the Aronnax was not doing their kids' social skills any favors. Ant was, of course, very enthusiastic while Fontaine, being the teen she was, resisted the idea.
"Mom, why are you just telling us this now?" whined Fontaine as they were about thirty minutes from their destination.
"Because I knew you'd make a big fuss about this and try and talk us out of it," said Kaiko plainly. She jerked a thumb in her son's direction who seemed unable to sit still out of sheer excitement. "And he'd get like that from the moment he knew."
"Look on the bright side, you get to make new friends," encouraged Will.
Fontaine crossed her arms. "I doubt it. It's just gonna be awkward. Besides, me and Ant already know tons about science. We don't need to go."
Kaiko wagged her finger with a knowing grin on her face. "You really think we would send our two brilliant kids off to some basic science camp? No. This one is sponsored and organized by none other than Reina Herrera. She's a great marine biologist. I would know, she was my college professor."
Her two children perked up at the name.
Ant's eyes grew wide. "Wait, you mean her? The lady who discovered and named over 200 species of fish in the Galápagos Islands!" He jumped up and exclaimed, "Yes! This camp is gonna be awesome!"
Fontaine shrugged tolerantly. "Okay, I guess that'll make it better. Will it have top of the line tech?"
"Reina is fond of old fashioned exploration, don't be surprised if there's challenges involving old tech, but I hear she's going to provide only the best of the best," answered Will. He leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "I even hear she's going to bring in prototype jet skis for the top pilots to test out and maybe even win."
"And Jess will be there," added Kaiko, ignoring Ant's celebratory whoop in the background.
"All right, I guess I'm really sold now," acquiesced Fontaine. Now, this science camp didn't sound like a complete drag anymore.
As they disembarked from the Aronnax, Ant repeated his very specific instructions on how to take care of Jeffrey for the tenth time to his parents.
Will tiredly interrupted his mini rant, "Yes, Ant. We know. Don't worry about Jeffrey. We'll take the best care of him. Besides," he motioned to his wife, "we've got the best marine biologist onboard. We'll make sure he eats on his strict schedule."
Ant looked mildly skeptical, pointing out, "But didn't Mom forget to feed us dinner for like an entire week that one time?"
Kaiko made a face but kept her mouth shut, not arguing his point. He was unfortunately correct about that mini fiasco.
"I'll make sure he eats," corrected Will.
The Nekton family said their goodbyes and gave their final kisses and tight hugs. Fontaine rolled her eyes as her brother said this long, melodramatic goodbye to his fish.
Will and Kaiko shared excited grins as they watched the siblings walk down the pier to join a small group of kids around their age who were also waiting for the camp counselor. This would be an great experience for their kids and a much needed break for them.
Fontaine immediately made up her mind that she didn't like these kids when she saw a dark-haired boy look at Ant, who was wiping a tear from his eye from his goodbye with Jeffrey, then turn and scoff. He not so quietly whispered to his three friends, "Ha, I didn't know they let crybabies into this camp."
Ant heard the guy and immediately defended himself, "Hey! I'm not a crybaby. At least I still don't have my baby fat!"
Fontaine bit back a snort as a chorus of "ooohs" immediately erupted from the other kids. The boy cracked his knuckles, looking ready to fight when she subtly stepped behind her brother, fixing the bully with her fiercest glare.
The boy wisely backed down but not before threatening Ant, "If I see your face again, I'll give ya something to really cry about."
Fontaine put a warning hand on her brother's shoulder before he could make another wisecrack and escalate the situation.
Fortunately, only a short time later, a counselor showed up and introduced themselves before leading them to a sizable research ship, the Calypso, where they would apparently be spending a good portion of the camp onboard.
She was pleasantly to find Jess was her roommate until the blonde mentioned, "Really? I thought you'd already know since our parents signed us up at the same time."
"No, I literally only found out I was coming to this camp thing a little over an hour ago," grumbled Fontaine.
Jess simply laughed at her friend's grumpy expression, pulling her out of the room as all the children and teens were scheduled to gather together for a welcome and introduction. The girls idly scanned the group while they waited.
Fontaine did a double take, blinking hard. She elbowed her friend and pointed subtly, "Uh, Jess? Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Tall, lanky boy with a one earring and a short, scrawny girl?"
Jess answered slowly, "Yeah...? You know them?"
Fontaine was already marching her way over to them.
Her friend confusedly watched the exchange from a distance.
"Finn?! Maddy?! What are you doing here?" confronted Fontaine.
"Nekton?!" bristled Madeline instantly.
Finn kept a level head and charming grin. "Ah, actually, it's Ben," corrected the pirate coolly. "Long time no see. Figures you'd be at a place like this."
Fontaine raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Ben? Seriously?" She looked over at his sister. "Lemme guess, you're 'Adeline' now?"
Before Madeline could actually correct her that it was Madison now, some sort of commotion broke out that the root cause of, for once, wasn't her fault.
Fontaine peered around "Ben" just in time to see her brother being pushed around by a couple of boys and forcefully shoved over the edge of the railing by the bully he insulted from earlier. By nature, the teen Nekton wasn't particularly prone to irrational acts of violence against most people (save for Ant. He was begging for it most of the time.), but goodness, did she really feel her blood start to boil. As much as she wanted to sock the bully right in the nose, she didn't because, as an older teen, it wouldn't be right to fight a child. Instead, she opted to sprint over and body-slam him off the side of the ship. Turns out, he wasn't as an accomplished swimmer as her brother.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reina Herrera looked over the papers in her hands then up at the children that stood before her desk, two sopping wet boys and an entirely unapologetic teenage girl. She let out a displeased sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was not how her first science camp was supposed to start. Thank goodness, this was only a week-long camp and not an entire summer fraught with incidences like this. "Tell me again what happened."
The boy, Jacob Stone, whom she suspected to be the instigator in this whole fiasco immediately launched into a long exaggerated explanation as to why he was the victim. Antaeus Nekton popped in with his own counterpoints to the story until the marine biologist got a good grasp on what really went down.
She raised a hand to silence the two chatterboxes. "Enough. Jacob, you're assigned to dish duty for the entire week." Above his whines and complains, she told the other boy, "Antaeus, you're on wake up call duty."
The woman stared hard at the grumbling boys and told them firmly, "You are lucky no one got hurt. On the Calypso, such behavior is not tolerated, and you two need to be made an example of. These punishments are far from severe. I should be sending all of you home but I'm being exceptionally generous. One more incident though and I will send you home, no refunds. Let this be a warning and lesson to you. We are here to learn about science, not wrestle."
"Out you two. I will speak with Ms. Nekton alone now."
Fontaine straightened her posture and stared at Reina, awaiting her judgment. She was caught off guard when Reina asked, "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but are you and your brother of relation to Kaiko Izumi?"
"Uh, yes ma'am. She goes by Kaiko Nekton now though," answered Fontaine slowly.
The hard expression that Reina had worn with the boys in the room fell away into a small grin. She chuckled quietly to herself, "That makes so much sense." To the girl, she said louder, "I always knew her and William had chemistry."
At the Nekton's confused silence, the marine biologist continued speaking. "I'm not going to punish you severely either. I think I have a good grip on what's going on. You're on wake up duty with your brother." She laughed, "You definitely take after your mother. She's pushed a good number of people off piers and boats in her time."
Fontaine's eyes widened. "She did?!" Sure, her mom could be fiery at times, but she'd never heard of her doing that to people.
"She was great at debate, but when people were too pigheaded to see the truth, well... She always liked to say she gave them a 'splash of reality'," recounted Reina. "I must admit, most of the time the people very much earned a dip in the sea." She waved the girl out. "Now go on. They should be starting scuba diving soon. Those two boys already got a good preview."
Ant was waiting for his sister when she walked out. He looked concerned. "So what punishment did she give you?"
"I'm on wake up duty with you," grumbled Fontaine. In reality though, she was happy she got off without severe consequences. Reina seemed to be incredibly discerning.
As they walked, Ant spoke. "You know... you didn't have to throw him overboard too."
"Yes, I did," said Fontaine firmly. "He deserved a taste of his own medicine."
"I know! But you could've gotten in huge trouble."
"So? It would've been worth it. No one gets to push you around but me."
For a moment, her brother look confused before breaking out into a smug grin. He threw his arms around her side much to her annoyance. "Aww, Fontaine! You actually do care!"
She pushed him off. "Get off! And duh, of course I care. You're my little brother unfortunately, so I'm stuck with you and gotta look out for you when you inevitability get into trouble." She ruffled his already messy hair, but then threateningly got in his face. "So if that boy or anyone else messes with you, tell me."
Ant nodded, but pointed out mischievously. "Even if it's Pirate Boy messing with me when we're out on missions?"
Fontaine glared but then facepalmed and groaned, not giving him the satisfaction of a firm answer.
"It's okay. I know my oh-so strong and loving sister will protect me from those nasty, ugly pirates," teased Ant.
"Shut up," growled Fontaine, fighting down an amused grin. Yes, her brother was a pain in the butt most of the time, but he was her pain pain in the butt, so no one got the honor of picking on him but her.