A/N: This chapter basically gives everything away; like I said I'm going through some writers block in ALL of my ff. Finn is having some intense nightmares because of his fever. I'll try and make a scene where we go into his dreams later on, maybe in chap 5 or 4. Any way enjoy!

It was dark when Finn woke again. He took a deep breath which ended in coughing that woke up Jake.

"You alright man?" Jake asked concerned.

"Ya Jake I'm fine." Finn replied after clearing his throat. Finn rolled over onto his back. His entire right side burned. Jake saw the pain in Finn's face.

"Dude come on, don't lie to me." He said after a pause.

"I said I'm fine Jake."

"Finn."

"Alright, I'm in pain! Are you happy now? This stupid rash feels like Flame Princess has me in a head lock and my head feels like it's going to explode! My chest feels like someone is inside me squeezing my organs and my nose, I can't even begin to describe how much it hurts!" Finn almost yelled.

"No Finn I'm not happy. I'm just worried about you bro." Jake said softly.

Finn sighed feeling bad for yelling at his big bro. "I know bro. I'm sorry. Just frustrated."

They were quiet for a while.

"Jake." Finn whispered scratching his nose.

"Ya buddy?" answered Jake, raising his head.

"What do you think about Elizabeth?" Finn sniffled, trying to stop the snot from dripping.

"Hmmmm... She's nice; I like her. But I think she has issues. Why?" Jake said falling back asleep.

"You're going to think this is crazy" Finn whispered, "I'm not sure I even believe it."

"What? Tell me."

Finn struggled for a moment. "I-I think that maybe, it may be possible that Elizabeth might be..." then super-fast that even Jake's superior hearing had trouble deciphering what he said, "my mom."

"Dude that's crazy. Just because she's human and kinda looks like you doesn't mean she's your mom." Jake reassured him. Finn made a frustrated noise.

"I know, but I can't shake this feeling, and I've been having these dreams and well-"

"Finn you're sick." Jake interrupted.

"No. I mean ya but. Ugh. Yesterday I had a flashback, like they do in the movies we find, and Elizabeth was holding me and she called me her charming little prince." Finn said trying to convince Jake, realizing himself how crazy it sounded.

"It's just your fever making you have these dreams." Jake said, "Besides you probably dreamt it after that story she told us."

"No Jake. It was yesterday morning, before you woke up." Finn had become frustrated.

Jake didn't say anything. He was not only worried about Finn's physical health but his mental health as well. This fever is making him think crazy thoughts and hallucinate. But Jake couldn't shake that odd feeling that maybe just maybe Finn may be on the right track. After all she did say he looked a lot like Tobby, and Finn does have several of Lizzy's features. On top of that, they smell almost the same. What are the odds of that though? A surviving human being a birth parent of Finn?

A few minutes later he heard Finn sigh heavily, scratch his head and turn away. He coughed some and fell asleep minutes later.

Jake was left to his thoughts. Most of which revolved around whether or not he should leave Finn and go see Lady for a few days. He did need to see Lad, make sure she's doing okay; it has been nearly three weeks since he'd last seen her.

An hour passed in his mental debates when Finn began shivering and whimpering. Finn curled up on himself as if he was cold and scared.

Jake cover him with more blankets and petted his hair, like their mom did when they weren't feeling well.

It took a while for Finn to stop crying and sniffling, but he didn't stop shivering.

Jake stayed up all night watching Finn sleep. And he didn't like what he observed at all.

Marceline woke up at home. She had a feeling-more like a hunch. She kept thinking back to when she found Lizzy.

How and why did Lizzy survive when everyone around her perished in less than twenty-four hours? How can Finn even exist? Elizabeth was the last to give birth.

It was all so confusing. The more she thought about the whole crazy situation, the more she began to believe that Finn may be Lizzy's son. But how was that possible? She saw for her own eyes the destruction of an entire race in one night. On top of that the baby was left alone in a secure home that burned to the ground.

No one survived, not even the children.

Marceline sighed and got dressed; she was never one for complicated puzzles. Last night she asked around the Night-O-Sphere, but no one had the answers. She thought that since everyone there is like super evil and ancient they may know what happened that day.

Lizzy described the creatures as humanoid and shadowy. They wore long dark robes and over-sized hoods making it impossible to see their faces. When cut, instead of bleeding they leaked ash and smoke; if someone was lucky enough to actually kill one, they went up in a puff of foul-smelling smoke.

Unfortunately Marceline knew of a lot of entities like that; and she talked to every one of them. None of them even knew humans still existed. Each one said they were supposed to be wiped out by the wars they created.

Marceline rubbed her face in frustration. They only way to know for sure is blood and memories. Traumatic memories are always locked away tight in human minds, so blood it is.

Marcy headed for the Candy Kingdom, she was going to need some help.

Jake heaved a heavy and tired sigh. Finn had finally stopped with the extreme dreaming, and now lay still and peaceful. His slow steady breathing-that sounded as if he was breathing through a straw-occasionally interrupted by a sniffle or a cough.

"You look awful. Did you stay up all night?" Liz's voice came from behind. Jake glanced her way, only to snap back to Finn who coughed then rolled over.

"I couldn't help it." then after a thought he added, "Do you have anything for nightmares?"

"No. Sorry. Is that why you stayed up?" Liz asked sitting next to Jake, the bed dipped a bit.

"Finn rarely has nightmares. When he does or when something scares him bad enough, he'll lock the memory away in his mental 'volt'." Jake confessed.

"That's normal for humans. Locking traumatic memories away so they don't have to deal with them. I get it, there's just some things you can't fight. Love is the only thing more powerful than fear." Elizabeth placed a hand on Jake's shoulder, "The fever may have cracked his mental block. He'll be fine."

Then as if an afterthought she told a short story to her only listener, "I knew a girl who had Violet Fever, her fever was much worse than Finn's. She was terrified of beetles. One day when her fever was particularly bad she began hallucinating that beetles had crawled into her skin and she became frantic, digging into her skin till she bled. She had to be kept on constant watch. One faithful day a careless nurse left her alone long enough for her to grab a scalpel and tear into her skin, trying to dig out the imaginary beetles. She bled to death." Lizzy finished sipping her tea.

"Sounds like a horror movie." Jake said shivering, "That won't happen to Finn will it?"

"Nah, to tell you the truth Grace wasn't all right in the head to begin with. Little brother will be fine." Liz gently shook Jake, "Go and eat something. It will do Finn no good if he gets better only to find his brother sick."

Jake nodded, not missing the 'if' in her statement.

While Jake ate Elizabeth examined Finn.

With a stethoscope she listened to his heart; strong and steady but too fast. His breathing too slow and labored; she deduced that it was blockage caused by mucus and inflammation in his lungs. Not a big deal, but should be monitored. Peeling back his warm eye lids she shined light into his blue depths with a pocket flashlight; pupils dilated correctly. Annoyed Finn turned to his good side, avoiding the irritating light. Finn's skin felt warm and a bit clammy, but otherwise normal; aside for the giant violet rash.

During her examination she couldn't help but stare at the boy. From what she heard, he is a hard core adventurer, yet he had hardly any visible scars. She cupped his cheek and turned it so she could see the ugly rash; still the same, only clean. Gently lifting his tee she touched the outbreak. It was warmer than the rest of his feverish skin, and the color of wisteria. But at his shoulder, neck and inflamed ear was a dark plum.

Everything looked well in order. Finn was progressing very well. She estimated he would be healthy enough to go outside in a month if he continued at his current pace.

Elizabeth stood quickly and stared. In his sleep Finn smiled and cuddled the pillow; she froze. At that tiny moment he became an exact duplicate of her dead lover. She covered her mouth and shook her head frantically. "No. It isn't possible."

"What's not possible?" Jake asked coming in from the kitchen. Liz spun around like a child caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing.

"Nothing." Liz said, still shocked, "Because it isn't possible."

Jake eyed Elizabeth's determined face, and was mildly surprised himself, because it was a twin's to Finn's. Jake frowned slightly. Maybe his little brother's theory wasn't so far off as he originally thought.

Princess Bubblegum was making cookies at the palace when Marceline floated in like she owned the place.

"Hey Bonnibell." she said.

"Hey Marcy." Bubblegum returned to the oven, taking the tray of fresh cookies out of its super-hot core. "How's Finn?"

"Lizzy forced a haircut on him." Marceline chuckled, remembering the bored face the young hero had.

"Is that it?" Bubblegum faced her.

"No, his fever went up again and he went back to his coma like sleep. Severe nightmares too." Marceline sat down while snatching a gooey steaming cookie.

"That doesn't sound so math." Princess Bubblegum sighed and sat across from her vampire friend. "How's Jake taking it?"

"Hard. Lizzy keeps telling him that Finn is getting better. The rash has receded and he no longer coughs up blood." Marceline wrinkled her nose, "But the dog still worries."

"Poor Finn. Cooped up all day." PB began placing cookies in a basket. "I'm on my way to visit. I feel bad for demanding he come back so soon. It's just that with Finn gone, crime has escalated."

Marceline finished her cookie, "Bonnibell, do you remember the humans?" she asked reluctantly.

"Hmmm..." The Princess placed both hands on her cheeks, deep in thought. "No, I don't think I ever met one before Finn." She turned back to Marcy, "Why?"

"Because no one does." They sat in silence for a few moments till Marceline spoke, "I think Lizzy and Finn are related."

"What?" Peebles said surprised, "What makes you say that?" PB got up with her basket of goodies and began making her way to her room; Marceline in tow.

"Finn looks like Tobby's twin, and we never found the infant's body. I'm starting to think that Lizzy suspects as much as I do. Finn has already called her 'mom' and Jake told me they smell the same." Marceline turned to shut the door behind them.

"How could he have escaped the fire?" Bubblegum asked.

"I don't know." Marcy shrugged, then threw herself on the marshmallow soft bed.

Bubblegum frowned at Marceline, "I could test their DNA."

Finn woke up tired-a day or two later. Not dog-tired, not spent three days partying, but dead tired. He could barely keep his lids up, barely feel the hands touching him, or taste the soup forced between his parched lips. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't feel anything.

The nightmares had gotten worse, draining away at his energy like a starved whale. He kept his open afraid to sleep. After a while he sat up, a shiver crawled up his spine for no apparent reason. Jake wasn't anywhere to be seen, and for that he was glad. It was nice that his bro stood by him, but it's also nice to have some time alone to one's self.

Stretching his sore and cramped muscles Finn took his time evaluating his surroundings. He was a few feet from the door, at the head of the bed there was no wall. Just a faded red chair that had a large piled of old pillows in its seat. At the foot was the wall. Left of the bed was an almost empty shelf.

Directly ahead of Finn was a large book case-ceiling high-that had only a few empty spaces. If he lay his head back down he could see the living room, and the bathroom door. Next to the door was a clutter-less desk, with a comfy looking office chair at it. On the floor, a round ancient floral patterned rug. It covered an even older rug, to faded to tell what color it once was.

Another shiver interrupted Finn's snooping. Tucking his legs into his chest he wrapped his arms around his skinny legs and place his chin upon his knees. Only then did he realize his shivering was because he was cold.

Unwilling to wrap himself into the warm blankets for fear of returning to the nightmare world that had become his dreams, Finn stood and shakily made his way to the enormous book-case. The books looked all old and worn, a thin layer of dust covered them, yet to Finn they seemed so inviting. Reading allergy inducing books is certainly better than moping around feeling awful.

Scanning the numerous books, one caught his eye. It was bright red, newer than the others, but still super old. "The Secret-" the rest of the title was worn away. "The Secret what?" Finn said out loud. Moving on he scanned he rest of the titles.

She had everything, from "The Wonders of the Atomic Bomb", to "Gardening for Dummies". She had a lot of gardening books. A lot of the books he'd never even heard of, others he recognized from the library.

That red book kept catching his attention. None of the others seemed at all interesting; being all biographies or histories or just plain boring subjects. Sliding the book of its place Finn examined the book closer.

It was heavy, but that could have been because he lost some muscle mass vegetating. He carried it back to his temporary bed and opened the cover. "The Secret of the Lost Kingdom". 'Well at least it sound interesting.' Finn thought flipping to the first page and reading.

For a while he read fighting the urge to close his lids. Half way through he felt someone watching him, he looked up. It was Liz. She was staring at him a confused look on her almost blank face. "How are you feeling?" she asked sipping some minty smelling tea.

Feeling a tad bit uncomfortable he answered. "Ummm... Okay I guess... I don't feel so sick anymore."

"Are your nightmares gone?"

Finn flinched a bit, "N-no." His cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "Where's Jake?"

"You had been a sleep for a while, so Jake thought it would be okay if he went to see Lady." Liz stood and placed a palm on Finn's damp forehead. "He's really worried about you. He stayed up all night before he left. He said he couldn't sleep with his best friend so miserable." She smiled and Finn felt a little better at that smile. Though he couldn't tell you why.

"Why do you have so many books? Where do you get them all?" Finn asked, hoping to change the subject.

"I find them when I'm out scavenging. I like reading books from before the Great War. But those books are pretty rare. Especially history and maps, the world used to look much different from now."

"Turtle Princess has a few in her library." Finn said watching her pick at her dress, noting how she often fidgets.

"I haven't left tis place in a very long time." Elizabeth's sad voice suddenly turned cheery, startling poor Finn. "Are you hungry? I made bacon and biscuits!"

"...Okay." It was certainly better than sitting in the dark. Finn followed Liz into a cozy kitchen where a plate lay waiting for him. His stomach growling angrily made Finn realize he hadn't eaten anything solid in a long time.

A/N: The next chapter I'm throwing in some feels and some scares. Finn's sickness gets worse much worse. ;)