I came back home to try and figure some things out, but before I could…well, things got sort of complicated.

Jim Hawkins had only been home a few short hours, much to the joy of his mother, when the storm hit. It was a big one, with rain drops larger than Morph falling from the sky. The pink creature had taken to floating over Jim's shoulder as the young man wandered around the Benbow Inn, getting reacquainted with his home.

His mother had told him to put his small bag of things in his old room; granted, it wasn't his child hood room. That had been lost in the fire, but Jim did get his own room just after the inn was rebuilt almost a year later.

Now, four years after the inn's reopening, Jim was home again. He had taken time away from his work in the military (he traveled quite a bit and worked as a mechanic of sorts) because he had some things he needed to figure out. His commanding officer had understood. "You're a brilliant lad James," he had said. "It'll be a shame not having you, but you do what you need. You'll have a place waiting for you."

So, at the age of twenty, Jim came back home. The rain poured down outside as lightning flashed and thunder boomed. He had placed his bag in his room and had shed his uniform. Morph hovered over the bed, chitterling and chirping happily. The little creature was happy that his friend had returned.

Jim changed into an outfit he had frequented when he was younger – light brown shirt, black pants and black boots. He had filled out quite a bit, become a very attractive young man. He scratched his left earlobe. He still had the piercing but didn't wear what had been his signature ring anymore because of his military work. He was toying with the idea of putting it back in for old time's sake when he saw it.

A small air craft, only big enough for one person came crashing out of the sky. It was flaming at the end, as if lightning had reached out and touched it. Jim watched it as it crashed about a mile up the road into a small lake.

Jim tore out of his room, down the hall, down the stairs. His mother called after him as he ran into the storm. "Jim, what are you doing?"

Jim paused long enough to look to his mother. "Someone's crashed into the lake; I'm going to go make sure everything's ok!"

Jim resumed running, followed closely by his mother. They reached the lake in a few minutes; the remains of the air craft (which looked remarkably like a solar surfer and a dingy had a baby) were just sinking. Lightning flashed and lighted up the world; Sarah gasped and grabbed her son's arm, shaking him. "Jim, there's someone in the water!"

Jim dove in; later on, he realized it might have been pretty reckless, jumping into a lake with lightning dancing in the sky, but it needed to be done. Sure enough, not far from the lake's edge, a young woman was floating down to the bottom of the lake. Jim grabbed her, pulling her into his arms and then kicked his way to the surface.

The storm was still raging when Jim broke the surface, his mother alternating between calling to him and to a few of the guests from the inn that had followed. Jim kicked his way to the edge of the lake where his mother and a large amphibious couple pulled him and the unconscious woman from the lake. "Jim, don't ever do that again!" Sarah's face was pale as the rain beat down on them.

Jim laughed a little before turning toward the amphibious man; he had laid the young woman out, checking her over. "She's breathing, but we should get her inside," he said. The frog man took off his jacket as Jim lifted her up into his arms again. They wrapped the wet jacket around her, figuring it was better than nothing.

She was cold in Jim's arms, and that frightened him. She had a cut on her forehead and blood ran down her face. She was an attractive thing, with pale skin and light brown hair (though it looked rather dark because of the water.)

They carried her back to the inn, attracting the attention to many of the guests who were gathered in the dining room. Jim pushed his way through the congregation that had crowed the door and headed up the stairs.

He placed the young woman on the bed in the first empty guest room he could find – it just happened to be beside his. The frog man, who claimed to be a doctor, took over, looking the girl over for other injuries.

Jim went to his room to change; Morph was still hovering over his bed. Jim fished through his bag, pulled out a second pair of black pants. He pulled them on, grateful for the dry cloth, and abandoned his wet clothes on the floor. Then he flopped back on the bed, suddenly exhausted; he wanted to check on the young woman, but he knew the frog doctor wouldn't have finished checking her yet.

Morph chattered as he settled down on the pillow beside Jim's head. "Well, this is turning out to be an exciting trip home," he muttered, mostly to himself as he heard people and creatures (frogs didn't count as people, technically) move about the next room. He fell asleep as rain pounded the Benbow Inn.

Jim slept until late the next morning; it kind of blew his mind that he could sleep so much. Morph greeted him with happy chattering, changing into an alarm clock and ringing loudly beside Jim's ear. "Morph," he groaned, swatting at the little creature. Morph reverted back to his original self before licking Jim's cheeks. "Okay, okay, I'm up," the young man said, rolling out of bed.

He dug through his bag to find a black shirt – he looked like he was about to go to a funeral - tugged it on and then ran his hands though his hair. He didn't particularly like looking scruffy and 'fresh from the bed' but he also figured that he didn't have to put on his military best dress at home. He pulled on his boots, which had thankfully dried, before leaving the room and walking down the hall.

He glanced at the door to the young woman's room. He wondered if she was still there, if she had been alright enough to go home or if…he shook his head to clear his thoughts as he walked down the stairs.

The Benbow was crowded and guests were chattering loudly as Sarah Hawkins ran about, trying to get everyone served. When she caught sight of her son, Sarah waved him toward the kitchen before quickly disappearing through the swinging door. Jim followed her into the kitchen.

It was larger than the one they had had in the original Benbow, but that didn't make it any less of a mad house. B.E.N. was running around, trying to fill orders quickly and efficiently. "Mornin' Jimmy!" The robot gave a sort of salute mixed with a wave as Jim walked through the swinging door. His mother was at the counter, filling a tray with oatmeal, toast and a glass of juice.

"Jim, I need you to take this to Chloe," Sarah said, quickly handing the tray to Jim.

"Who?"

Sarah shook her head, obviously forgetting to inform her son of the events of the previous night. "The girl you saved; she doesn't remember anything besides the name Chloe, so that what we're calling her."

Jim gave his mother a slightly confused look. "She doesn't remember anything about the crash?"

Sarah shook her head again before moving toward her son and beginning to attempt to fix his hair. "No, she remembers the crash, but she doesn't seem to remember anything from before that. She doesn't know who she is, where she's from; she doesn't even know if she has a family or not. Jim, you should try to look nice."

Jim shook away from his mother. "C'mon Mom, I look fine; so she doesn't know anything? She must be scared."

Sarah sighed as she prepared a different tray, taking orders out to customers. "She's hiding it very well if she it. She keeps asking for you."

As his mother walked out of the kitchen, Jim realized exactly what she had said. "Wait, what? She's asking for me?"

Sarah nodded and called over her shoulder as she disappeared. "She's asking for her rescuer – that would be you."

Jim stuttered a little as he set the tray back on the counter. When he realized that words wouldn't come, he sighed heavily, running his hand over his eyes in mild exasperation. B.E.N., never very tactful spoke loudly as he cooked. "You know Jimmy, if I didn't know any better, I would think your mom was trying to set you up with that pretty little-"Jim shot the robot a glare. "Shutting up."

Jim picked up the tray of food again and headed back up the stairs. He made his way to the girl's – Chloe's – room and paused outside the door. He heard a soft cough, like she was trying to get her throat cleared. Jim gave a soft knock and waited for a response. There was a soft "Come in," and Jim opened the door.

Chloe was sitting up in the bed that Jim had laid her in the night before. Her hair was dried and hanging over her left shoulder, a cascade of burnt sugar. She smiled a little when Jim took an uncertain step into the room. "Um," he started, glancing back over his shoulder, suddenly wishing his mother was with him. "Here's some breakfast if you're uh…hungry."

He brought the tray over toward the bed side table, trying his best to Chloe over without being caught staring. She was an attractive young woman, not too thick not too thin, curvy in all the right places (that Jim could see considering she was sitting up in a bed). Her skin was pale, but in a natural way; she would look strange if she had a dark complexion. She had large green eyes and delicate facial features; a small, straight nose and high cheek bones.

She flushed red when she noticed Jim looking her over, and she cast her gaze to her hands on the blankets. Jim set the tray down and cleared his throat. "So uh…I'll be back later to get the tray."

"You were to one that um," Chloe's voice was soft as she spoke. She turned her gaze back toward Jim's face and gave him a soft smile. "Thank you for saving me."

Jim nodded. "D-don't mention it," he said before quickly leaving the room. He was suddenly very self conscious, and felt that his responses to her were idiotic. Jim walked to his room, kicking the door closed behind him. He shook his head as he walked to sit on the edge of his bed. "So much for sorting things out," he grumbled as Morph floated into his face. "I get the feeling that things are just going to be complicated from her on in."

Morph chattered before changing into a tiny Jim and chanting the word 'complicated' over and over again.

Whoo! This was a long one! I hope you all like it!

R&R!

BBTM