By the time John and Uly made it to the biodome, the sun was high in the sky. John had no way of knowing when he'd made contact with Alonzo on the Dreamplane and what time they should expect him.

Uly stared at the biodome wistfully as they approached it, as if seeing it for the first time since they'd packed up their winter camp years ago.

"Why the biodome? Why'd you end up here?" John asked curiously.

Uly kept his eyes on the building as he continued helping John limp along.

"I don't know. I don't even remember how I got here. I just remember that awful vision and just pushing. But…" Uly took a long while to consider as the building loomed closer. "Good memories, I guess? A time and place where we were all together and had somewhere to call home?"

"Huh," John muttered. He had some not-so-good memories of the place. Almost dying. Almost killing. Then again, he hadn't been a little boy when he'd lived here. He looked at the biodome from Uly's point of view and could understand his connection to it.

"I don't know. I guess a part of me just felt I'd be safe here. If I couldn't be with the Terrians, where I'm truly happy, I wanted to be in the last place I was truly happy as a human."

John always felt a little queasy when Uly said stuff like that. It hurt to know how much pain Uly had been in for so long. Especially since John had worked so hard to make Uly feel safe, wanted, and loved without Devon. And hearing him describe his disconnect with his human side or his preference for all things Terrian was painful in another way.

"But that's what all this was about, right?" John asked as they pushed open the outer doors of the biodome.

Uly hesitated before opening the second set of doors. He reached out and touched the door with his fingertips very lightly. "Yeah. Like, this… There are so many beautiful, natural places on this planet, but I wanted to die here." He pushed the door open, avoiding John's frightened glare.

"Uly," John almost moaned, the implications of Uly's statement too painful to consider.

"It's ok, John. I get it now. Not all of it, but…"

Uly helped John onto a bench and laid him down. "You rest. I'm going to look around. Who knows what we left here. Didn't mom want us to leave something behind in case some lost researchers came across this place?"

"Yeah. But don't go too far. Alonzo's on his way." John could already feel his eyelids drooping.

He woke to Uly cleaning the wound on his head.

"How bad is it?" John asked, wincing.

"Pretty bad. Julia will need to work on it. But I want you to at least be somewhat presentable for mom."

John smiled. "There's not enough time in the world for that to happen."

"I'll do what I can," Uly laughed.

It felt so good to be laughing and teasing with Uly again, he almost forgot about his aches and pains.

"So, before… It sounded like you'd figured something out."

Uly soaked a cloth in something that reeked of alcohol before dabbing John's head again. "The Terrians who healed me last night… All they did was suck out that vision. It wasn't a Dream. I'm still not sure what it was. But it's like they pulled it right out. Right now I'm tired and worn out, but I think that's about all they did for me. They said it wasn't mine."

John tried to remember the unsettling thoughts and feelings he'd had when he'd joined Uly's vision. "Like it was you, but not you at the same time? That's what I was getting."

"Yeah, but they didn't seem to understand why it had happened to me. Because it was mine. Kinda? Like maybe me…in the future? That's what I was terrified of. I was scared I'd cause those things to happen. Or even just experience them. And knowing mom was coming home soon and suddenly having those strange feelings about her. In that vision, I hated her, but I loved her. I wanted to hurt her, but I was afraid for her, too." Uly shuddered. "It feels awful just talking about it."

John had felt it, too. Amid all of the chaos, Devon had loomed large. "Maybe it's like a Dell Curry thing? You intercepted some kind of message?"

"Huh, yeah, maybe. Yeah, something like that." Uly's eyes darted over to where the monitor once stood where they had watched and rewatched Dell Curry's pleading messages to her son.

Uly began to check John's arm and John's eyes filled with tears with each touch. "Looks pretty bad. Broken or fracture, I guess. Should've paid more attention in class."

Uly handed John a full canteen and got out a pack of spirulina and tore it open. "Jackpot," he said, placing it on John's chest.

"Bon appetit," John grunted.

Uly looked around the biodome again, taking it in. "The Terrians were trying to tell me something about you. How they don't understand you."

John swallowed his water so he wouldn't choke on it when he laughed. "Feeling's mutual." Although his surprising affection for the lone Terrian came to mind, and Danziger decided to wait a moment to mention him so Uly could follow his train of thought.

"But, well, I'm not sure what the word would be, but it's like they're intrigued by you and your connection to me. How you came to get me every time I took off. Even when I was trying as hard as I could to just lose myself in my Terrian life, you just kept coming. That's why they always ended up helping you find me. But this time they couldn't understand how you followed me like you did. Without their help. Without my Terrian powers. They said there was a bond. A connection. Something intangible pulling you to me."

"That's exactly how it felt," John remembered.

"They had cut off my powers because I was tipping too far to my Terrian side and neglecting humanity. And I'm no use to them if I can't balance the two. Even when I was trying to fit in again at home, it was more because I just wanted my Terrian life back than really wanting to be in that world. It was hollow. The Terrians can see through that stuff. Going through the motions and just being good wasn't going to cut it for them."

John got a sick feeling again thinking of Uly more than happy to abandon his life in New Pacifica if the Terrians would allow it.

Uly reached for an old blanket, balled it up, and placed it under John's head. "Meanwhile, the Terrians have seen you do incredible things since you landed on this planet. Both good and bad. Even surviving the presence of that ancient Terrian. They've noticed. They've tried to figure you out, I guess. What makes you special."

"My nine lives?" John asked.

"Your…humanness… You're just so…human."

"Sounds like a slur when you say it like that," John said, grimacing.

"They're giving me another chance because of you. They had lost faith in me. But they realized you would never give up on trying to keep me connected to your world."

"Is that right? Huh, I just thought I was trying to keep your mom from kicking my ass," John smiled.

Uly rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to be serious."

"Me, too. If something happened to you, your mom would seriously kick my ass."

Uly smiled. "You think Alonzo is bringing her on the shuttle?"

John felt a flutter in his stomach. "Probably, kid. I didn't get much info from Alonzo in that Dream, but it didn't seem like anything had gone wrong."

Uly's forehead wrinkled as his smile turned to a pained frown.

"Hey, there's nothing to worry about now, right? That vision thing is gone. You're you. You're healthy…ish. You're feeling good…mostly."

Uly pushed the curls out of his eyes. "Yeah, you're right. It's gone. I'm ready to start over. Really."

"Glad to hear it. You promised me you'd get a haircut before your mom got back, though."

"Yeah, I guess I got distracted."

"You sure went to a lot of trouble to avoid a trim."

Uly laughed, then suddenly stopped and cocked his head to one side. "Did you hear that?"

John listened intently before catching Uly's eye and nodding. "Go get her, kid."