Jim sighed as he was tossing pebbles from the roof. He watched them roll off until he was out of them. He leaned against the window ledge and sighed again.

Thunder struck in the sky, and he ignored it in favor of listening to Delbert.

"I really don't know how you manage it, Sarah," He spoke up as Sarah and Arianna were cleaning up, as the Inn was now closed. "Trying to run a business while raising a felon like—felon...fellow! Fellow like Jim." Arianna glanced over her shoulder.

"Nice save," She remarked while gathering dirty dishes.

Jim watched as his mother sighed, rubbing her head. "Managing it? I'm at the end of my rope! If it wasn't for Ari today, I'm sure this place would've gone chaotic very quickly," She sighed and Arianna gave her a sympathetic look. "Ever since his father left...well...Jim's just never recovered. And you know how smart he is! He built his first solar surfer when he was eight! You remember, don't you, Ari?"

He saw Arianna give a small smile at the memory and Jim smiled too.

"And yet he's failing school, he is constantly in trouble, and when I talk to him...he's like a stranger to me. I don't know, Delbert. I've tried everything."

The girl sighed a bit. She wasn't there when Leland left, but she saw the boy right after...the only thing Jim did that day was lie in bed. She asked him if she could do anything for him, and he only asked for her to stay with him until she went back home. Which she did. But it felt like her presence only helped slightly. She had heard all about Jim's misdeeds from her father as Sarah would confide in him often about the boy. She should've been there for him more often...he must not like her anymore since she left him behind just like his father did...

"Sarah...I'm sorry my father and I fell out of touch with you. It seemed like you really needed us, and we didn't do more...I hope I can make it up to you during my stay here."

"Oh, no, sweetheart, it's okay," Sarah walked over, hugging the girl. "I'm just glad I get to see you again..."

Jim gave a sad smile, staring at the girl. He gently caressed a spot on the window where she was standing. He never was angry at her for falling out of touch with them. He didn't say it, but he was actually happy that she was staying with them. He had had a crush on Ari ever since she and her father had stopped talking to them, because he realized that he had missed having her around. The way her eyes lit up every time she talked about buying her dream ship, her smile when she would talk about her dream of being an adventurer...it helped him realize his feelings for her. He just hoped it wasn't obvious to her, since she knew him very well and that...she liked him back.

He sighed as he leaned back against the ledge, scoffing. "Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen," He mumbled to himself. He didn't know what Ari would think if he even brought it up, because he feared that she would reject him and then he'd lose her again. He sighed, placing his elbows on his knees as he looked towards the roof.

He froze as he heard something fly past him, sputtering. Jim looked up and saw an old ship, the engine emitting smoke and wheezing as it staggered. It crashed onto the dock and then the engine died.

Jim slid off the roof, running over to the ship.

His heart pounded as he ran across the dock, skidding to a stop. "Hey, Mister?" He banged on the glass, and there was too much smoke inside for him to see anything. He started knocking on the glass, but there was no response.

"Mister, you're okay in there, right?" He shouted, stopping the knocking. He gasped and then yelped as a turtle hand with claws smacked the window. It popped open, revealing an armadillo-turtle mutant alien. A chest also fell out of his ship as he collapsed in front of Jim, wheezing.

The turtle-armadillo grabbed him by the shirt, yanking him close.

"He's a-coming!" He managed to say, coughing. "Can ya hear him?" He paused and looked around, not hearing anything. "Those gears and gyros clickin' and whirrin'..." His neck stretched as he moved closer to Jim's face. He struggled to back away from the alien, his shirt still in the mutant's claw. "...Like the Devil himself!"

He let go of the boy, who sighed in relief.

"Uhh," Jim placed two fingers on his forehead. "Hit your head pretty hard, didn't you?" He questioned as he watched the turtle shuffling to his own ship.

He turned to Jim while wheezing, grabbing at his chest. "He's after me chest..." He grabbed the chest and held it protectively, looking around in a panic. "That fiendish cyborg and his band of cutthroats." He struggled to put the chest over his shoulder. "But they'll have to pry it from Old Billy Bones' cold dead fingers afore I-" He gasped and grabbed at his throat, coughing and falling. His hand was still on his chest as he coughed harshly.

"Oh, my-" Jim stammered in worry, kneeling next to Billy Bones. "Uh, come on, give me your arm," He grabbed the turtle's arm and put it over his shoulder. Billy grabbed at his chest with his other hand. "That's it," He encouraged as they started to walk up the path towards the Inn.

"Good lad," Billy told the boy as he swayed a bit.

Jim sighed, looking towards the Inn. "Mom and Ari are gonna love this," He murmured to himself as it started to rain.

Sarah flicked a switch, changing the rain out the window into a tropical setting. Then she changed it into a flower meadow. She sighed, turning to Delbert and Arianna.

"Thanks for listening Ari, Delbert," She told them gratefully as she sat down, burying her face into her hand. "It helps."

The two glanced at each other sadly. Ari was making a cup of cocoa, just like she used to do with Sarah whenever the woman looked after her after a bad day. In school, she couldn't really talk to her father when she was having problems, and with one look from the woman, she'd cheer her up instantly with something fun to do. But just looking at Sarah now, Ari could tell that she had a lot of things to put up with on her own...not just managing the Inn while being a single parent, but also having to deal with Jim getting into trouble. Somewhere deep down, she believed that Jim didn't mean to affect his mother this way...

Delbert walked over to Sarah, patting her shoulder gently.

"It's going to be okay," He told her. "You'll see."

A small smile hit her face, and then it dropped as she gripped her necklace.

"I keep dreaming one day I'll open the door..." A hologram of Jim as a baby appeared and he giggled. Arianna came up and they cooed at each other. Then it was a hologram of a 4-year-old Jim playing with a toy. "And there he'll be." Then it was an 8-year-old Jim, holding a purple creature with a large smile. "A smiling, happy little boy, holding a new pet..." She let out a soft, but sad, chuckle. "And begging me to let him keep it."

Arianna walked over to Sarah, putting down the cup of cocoa on the table. She then bent down to her, clutching at her own locket. "I remember he'd always ask me if we could share them...but if there's anything I know about family, it's that...their old habits never die hard, no matter how much they want them to."

Sarah smiled weakly at the girl.

Delbert opened the door, ready to leave the Inn, but a flash of lightning flashed, revealing Jim holding Billy Bones.

"James Pleiades Hawkins!" Sarah exclaimed in surprise, getting out of her seat. Arianna gasped as she stood up.

"What happened?!" She rushed over to them.

"Mom, Ari, he's hurt...bad!" Jim struggled to get him into the Inn, and the alien collapsed onto the floor. Delbert closed the door behind him.

Jim and Arianna kneeled to him from opposite sides. She noticed the several bruises and cuts on him. He struggled to breathe as he looked up at Arianna, who examined him. She gently touched one of his cuts, with a look of sadness in her eyes.

"These injuries...they run deep. But they represent a sense of protectiveness and strife..." She murmured, standing up immediately. "He needs medical attention or else he'll die!"

"No!" Billy Bones grabbed her arm and she stared down at him in surprise. "I'll die 'fore I give 'em the chest! Hand it to me, lass."

She scrambled over to the chest and dragged it over to him. He groaned and managed to prop himself up before he typed in the code for the chest.

"He'll be coming soon." Jim watched in awe and looked at the pattern that was used to unlock the chest. Billy reached in and grabbed something while coughing.

"Can't let them find this..."

"What is that?" Arianna asked in confusion, recoiling back a bit.

"Who's coming?" Jim asked and the man grabbed his shirt. Then he grabbed the top of Arianna's dress, pulling them over to his level. He then whispered in their ears.

"The cyborg!" He paused, his breathing slowing down. "Beware...the cyborg!" Lightning flashed, the two glancing at each other in slight fear. Billy gasped and he let go of them as he fell backwards. His last breath escaped him as he landed on the floor.

Arianna gasped and then pressed a finger to his neck. "He's gone..." Jim looked down at the golden orb that Billy gave him.

Sarah gasped in horror, a hand flying to her mouth. "Oh..."

The two teenagers looked up as a beam of light moved over the windows of the Inn. Arianna slowly stood up, glancing around as she carefully listened. A ship had just arrived at the Inn. Jim went over to the window. He slightly flickered the switch to look outside, seeing people approaching from the ship, and they didn't look friendly. His eyes widened as he flipped the switch.

He raced forward and grabbed Arianna's hand, surprising her. "Quick! We gotta go!" He grabbed his mother's hand as well.

"Come on!" Arianna shouted at Delbert as Jim ran up the stairs. There was a pause as a ray gun laser shot through the window. Delbert ducked his head as Arianna cringed, recoiling back a bit.

"I believe I'm with Jim and Ari on this one!" Delbert exclaimed as he scrambled up the stairs, following after the trio.

More shots were fired and then they heard a fire starting as the grill had been knocked over. Arianna looked down and froze, coming to a stop. She could see a shadow from the door, and it looked eerily familiar as the people started knocking down stuff.

The same shadow walked over to the open door of her room after her father was killed. The flames were increasing from the hallway, heading into her room…and so was the shadow. Arianna gasped, scrambling onto her feet. She jumped onto the window ledge and then jumped out the window. The shadow stepped in and saw no one, but a lot of her stuff was knocked over, so she might be dead as well. The large spider alien shadow left the room, not noticing Arianna hanging onto her window ledge from outside.

They looked over at Billy and saw him dead, along with the empty chest.

"Delilah!" Delbert burst open a window. "Hallelujah!" His ride looked up and jumped up and down in glee. "Stay! Don't move!"

"Where is it?" Someone bellowed out as they ransacked everything. "Find it!"

Jim looked back at Ari and saw the horror on her face, wincing as he saw the incoming shadows, but she was too frozen to notice them. That look told him that she was imagining the fire from her home. She wasn't there for the rest of it after she escaped, but she inferred that it was a big one. And the flames were not helping her trauma of having lost her father recently...

"Ari! We have to go, right now!" He urged her, pulling her forward, but she didn't react. "Ari," He called out softly and she turned to him. He placed his other hand over hers, staring into her eyes with understanding. "I know that it's hard being reminded of what happened, but I promise you, I won't let the same thing happen to you."

Her eyes widened at his declaration and she let him pull her forward. He failed to see the small smile on her face forming. She heard thumping and then looked back again to see shadows running up the stairs. She saw a barrel nearby and then kicked it down the stairs. It rolled down and caused whoever was chasing them to trip. She then quickly ripped out a board once she reached the top of the stairs.

Jim slammed the door shut once she was inside and she boarded it shut. They both panted from the adrenaline in them. Delbert and Sarah were perched on the ledge. "Don't worry, Sarah. I'm an expert in the laws of physical science."

The invaders reached the door and started pounding at it aggressively, Ari gasping. Jim looked over to the duo.

"On the count of three!" Delbert called out. "One-"

"Three!" Jim shoved them off, the two landing safely in the cart that held Delilah. Jim scooped up Arianna and then jumped off. The door was smashed down and the girl gasped, clinging onto her friend tightly as her dress flew around. They landed between Sarah and Delbert. They quickly drove away, Arianna's bandanna falling over her eyes.

Jim looked down at her as she reached up to her eyes with her hands, slowly lifting up the bandanna. She then turned to Jim, looking into his eyes. She blinked as she realized that he was really close to her face, his arms around her waist still. She was sitting on his lap, and now, looking into his eyes...she noticed that they were really blue...a nice blue at that.

Delbert yelled words of encouragement to Delilah and Sarah looked back to the Inn as they raced away. Unfortunately, she saw that it had caught on fire...She gasped and slumped against her seat, horror and sadness clearly shown as she hid her head into her hands.

Jim was still looking at Ari's eyes, and she finally realized that she had been staring at him for too long. She coughed and slowly got out of his arms. "W-What did he give you before he died?"

He gasped, reaching into his pocket. She watched as he took it out and she examined it closely. He removed the cloth over it, revealing a copper shaped object. It had buttons, but with the same pattern as the ones from Billy's chest.

Arianna and Jim looked up at each other in confusion, wondering why the man had it and why he went through such lengths to protect it. She then sighed, leaning back against her seat. First her father, her home, and now an old family friend had her inn burned down...She could only give the two a look of sorrow and sympathy. She wished she could do more to help them...