Finn rocked back and forth in his seat in the emergency room waiting area, clutching his knees to his chest. Jake rubbed his back reassuringly.

"If anyone can help him, it's Princess Bubblegum and Dr. Princess," Jake said softly.

"I can't… I can't let anything bad happen to him! I promised! I promised…"

Jake sighed. "Look, dude. I know he's your friend and all, but there's only so much you can do."

Finn looked up at Jake with watery eyes. "Don't say that. Please, don't say that! You'll mess me up. He's gonna be alright. Please, glob, let him be alright!"

Finn stood as Princess Bubblegum walked into the waiting area. She looked tired and stressed, her hair frazzled and the skin under her eyes baggy. "Finn, I've got good news and I've got bad news. Which do you-"

Finn grabbed the ears on his hat and pulled, trying to relieve some of the tension in his body. "Gimme bad news first!"

Princess Bubblegum sighed. "Like I said a few days ago, this universe is toxic to Flame Prince. His elemental matrix just doesn't work in Ooo. I thought my stabilization serum might help that, but it doesn't seem to be doing much. We're pumping him full of it right now, but it's only lessening the pain. His matrix is still unstable."

Finn grabbed Princess Bubblegum's lab coat lapels. "What does that mean!? Is he gonna be OK?"

"Please, Finn," said Princess Bubblegum, pulling herself from Finn's grasp. "Our only option is to collapse his elemental matrix waveform and extract it from his body."

"Hold on, sister." Jake stood and joined Finn and PB. "So he's not going to be a fire guy any more?"

"Well, that's the good news. Sort of. Finn, Jake is right. If we collapse his matrix waveform, he won't be a fire elemental. He'll just be a… I don't even know. A wizard without powers. Not quite a human, but a humanoid. It should stabilize him, though."

"OK…"

"But, Finn, we don't want to do the procedure without your consent. Flame Prince said he trusts you to make any medical decisions for him."

"He's awake?" Finn shouted, waving his arms in the air.

"He woke up for a few moments when we first hooked up his IV for the serum. He said you would know what to do. Then he muttered something about a 'psych law' and passed out. We've given him a sedative so his body can relax a little."

"Oh… OK. Well, go ahead, do the converty-dealie. Anything to save him. Oh, and Princess? His name is Jace, not Flame Prince."

PB nodded and left.

"Yo, Finn. There's something going on here," said Jake, crossing his arms. "You were less mooped out over Billy's death. What the stuff?"

Finn sat down on the cold linoleum floor, his back against the row of chairs along one wall. "I… I love him. I love him, Jake. I want him to be my boyfriend. I want him to be here, with me, always and forever. He came to Ooo to find his true love… And I think that's me. I'm in love with Jace."

Jake put his arm around Finn's shoulders. "Then we're going to make sure he gets through this."

Finn sniffed. "Y-you're not… like, weirded out or anything? That I love a guy?"

"Finn, I'm a magical stretchy dog in love with a flying rainbow with a unicorn horn. Love is blind, man, I told ya."


Almost an hour later, Princess Bubblegum returned to the waiting room, this time accompanied by Dr. Princess.

"Finn…" Finn stood, shaking a little with nerves, as Dr. Princess addressed him. "Finn, he's not doing well. We've removed his elemental matrix, but all of his internal organs are failing."

Princess Bubblegum knelt down and placed a hand on Finn's shoulder. "He's awake right now, but he's very weak, and a little loopy from the anesthesia. But he asked for you, he wants to see you."

His whole body shaking, Finn followed Princess Bubblegum into Jace's room. Jace was laying on a white bed, clothed in a hospital gown, and his fire hair had gone out. His skin was pale and gray, and the skin around his eyes drooped. Finn felt a dagger of ice through his heart, seeing Jace in this condition. He ran over to Jace's bed, and carefully held his hand.

"Finn…" he said weakly, running his thumb over the back of Finn's hand.

"I'm here, Jace, I'm here," said Finn, tears streaming down his face.

"Tall… Taller" His voice was weak and scratchy.

"Tall? Jace, it's me, Finn!"

"Finn… Taller… Horn…"

"Oh, Jace…" Finn sobbed, squeezing his hand. "Jace, I don't know what you're saying, but I'm here, and I'm not letting go."

"Taller… Tali… form."

"Taliform? Taliform!" Finn spun around to face Princess Bubblegum. "Peebs, the rock. The taliform that he used to get here. Can you use it to send him back? He'll be OK in Aaa, right?"

Princess Bubblegum turned to Dr. Princess, and the two took a moment whispering back and forth. Finally, PB turned to Finn. "Yes, he'd probably be able to make a full recovery if he was back in his universe. He might even regain his elemental matrix, I don't know. But, since it sounds like he no longer has a home in Aaa, I'd have to build a device to induce the transportation. It would probably destroy the rock. But yes, he'd be back in Aaa and would probably make a full recovery. But you'd never get to see him again. The pathway between Aaa and Ooo would be closed when the Taliform is destroyed."

"Do it," said Finn with determination. "Send him back. His life is more important than my love."

"Nnn…" moaned Jace from behind Finn. "Nnno…"

Finn turned around and grabbed Jace's hand again. "Jace, we have to do this. I love you, but if you died… I don't even want to think about it. We're sending you back to Aaa."

"Nnno…"

Finn shushed him, leaning close and planting one last kiss on his lips. "I'll always love you, my prince."

"No… Other… Way…" whispered Jace.

Finn's eyes grew wide. He could hear the blood pumping in his ears, blotting out all other sounds. Jace didn't say 'psych law', he was trying to say 'cyclops'. Finn turned to Princess Bubblegum, who was holding the Taliform and measuring it with a pair of calipers.

"PrincessBubblegumGivemetherockIknowhowtocurehim!" shouted Finn, making everyone in the room jump. Without waiting for her to respond, Finn grabbed the rock out of PB's hands, squeezing it as hard as he could while visualizing his tree fort.

With a popping sound, Finn disappeared from the hospital room. Opening his eyes, he found he was standing in his bedroom in the tree fort. "I'm coming, Jace!" shouted Finn to the empty room, running into the bathroom. He yanked open the mirror over the sink, nearly rending it from the hinges, and grabbed a large glass bottle with a clear, slightly blueish liquid in it. Holding it in his right hand, he squeezed the rock in his left and thought of Jace, of the night they spent together in bed, of the time they spent adventuring in the forest, of sitting with him by the scrap shed and just talking. There was a popping sound, and Finn found himself back in the hospital by Jace's bed.

"Finn, what is that?" asked Dr. Princess as Finn removed the stopper of the bottle and gently helped Jace drink the liquid inside. Finn didn't respond until Jace had finished the entire bottle.

"Cyclops tears," he responded as he climbed into the bed and laid next to Jace, holding his partner tightly.

"Don't be ridiculous. Cyclopses don't cry," scoffed Princess Bubblegum. "And even if they did, there aren't any cyclops left."

"Yes they do and yes there are," replied Finn resolutely. "And this one has magic healing properties in its tears. Cured my foot, my cuts and bruises, even fixed my dirty torn-up shirt!"

Jace moaned, his body twitching a little.

"Finn, there's no panacea. Nothing can cure everything." Dr. Princess picked up the empty bottle and shook it at Finn, trying to enforce her point.

"I don't care. This is gonna work, I know it!" Finn hugged Jace close to him as color began to return to his cheeks.

"Uhnn… F-Finn?" Jace moaned, his body revitalizing. "Finn?"

"Jace! You're back! I knew you'd make it!" Finn rolled over so he was straddling Jace, and began kissing him all over his face, oblivious to the other people in the room.

"Finn, stop," gasped Jace, giggling. "You're making me blush!"


After prying Finn off of him, Princess Bubblegum and Dr. Princess ran a full checkup on Jace, confirming that he was in good health.

"Well, I don't believe it, but you're good to go," muttered Dr. Princess, looking a little put out. "Your vitals are all in the green, you don't seem to have suffered any brain or liver damage, and you're obviously alive."

"Thanks!" said Jace, hopping down from the hospital bed.

"Uh… Dude? You… uh…" Finn blushed, trying to get Jace's attention.

"What?" he said, turning around.

"Um… Your hospital gown is open in the back."

"Oh!" Jace blushed too, looking around for his pants.

Princess Bubblegum and Dr. Princess exchanged glances. "You two can show yourselves out. We've got… uh… other patients to deal with." They left the room in a hurry, both clearly feeling awkward.

"Glob!" shouted Finn, hugging Jace. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Me too," whispered Jace, closing his eyes and breathing in Finn's scent. "Did you use the cyclops tears?"

"Yeah," said Finn. "Good call on that." He gave Jace's butt a little squeeze.

"Hey, hands off the buns! We're not even back at the treehouse yet!" Jace laughed, batting Finn's hands away.

"Aww, but I love your buns!"


After using the Taliform to return to the tree fort, Finn sat down with Jace on the couch. "Jace, um… You may have noticed, your hair is out."

Jace nodded, running his hand over his now smooth head. "Yeah, I was wondering about that. I also can't feel any fire nearby. Usually I can sense candles and ovens and stuff."

Finn frowned, placing his hand on Jace's shoulder. "Yeah, about that… So… So yeah. At the hospital, they removed your fire powers. Somehow that was supposed to help you stay here, in Ooo."

"I lost my fire powers!?" Jace looked panicked, and quickly held up his hand, trying to conjure flames. "Oh glob! I lost my fire powers!"

"Jace, it's OK!" shouted Finn, trying to calm him. "You're just, like, a wizard now. Or something." Jace looked at Finn with sad eyes. "But I still love you!" said Finn, trying to make Jace feel better. "It was either that or send you back to Aaa."

Jace smiled sadly. "Yeah… You made the right decision. I'll just have to learn to live without my powers." Thunder rumbled outside, and Jace squeaked and curled into Finn.

Finn laughed softly. "You don't have to be afraid of the rain anymore. You're not in danger of being put out. Tomorrow, we can go swimming!"

Jace frowned, still scared of the water. "Maybe in a few days. I still need to get used to this…" He looked down at his hands, and a single tear dripped down from his eyes.

"Jace…" Finn gently guided Jace's eyes into his own. "We're gonna get through this. You're gonna be alright. And I'm gonna be here with you. Always." Jace smiled again. "But I think we've had enough excitement for today. What'dya say we call it an early evening and go to sleep?"

Jace nodded. "I'd like that very much."

Finn left a note for Jake on the kitchen counter, and led Jace up to the bedroom. They curled up in Finn's bed, Finn holding Jace securely against his chest, and they both fell asleep within minutes, worn out from the day's excitement.