Chapter 7
Home

Martin was brought to consciousness abruptly, coughing and sputtering water everywhere. He began breathing heavily. The humming of machinery and the distant ocean waves filled his ears. Weakly, he tried to move, slowly but surely rubbing his eyes. He opened them immediately afterwards, blinking a few times to clear his vision.

The only thing he saw was metal, a metal floor. He managed to prop himself up on his elbows to look around. If he had to guess, he was in one of those Seeker ships, right? There was no weird business going on?

Was he saved?

"Oh, you're awake!" said a strange voice. He abruptly turned his head to see a large female Seeker with platinum blonde hair sticking out of her cat hat. Kara was her name, right? Minnie spoke of her occasionally.

Though, that wasn't what sent Martin to his feet, running to her faster than he had ran in years. No, he became so full of adrenaline because the Seeker was holding something he thought he had surely lost forever: his baby son.

"Finn!" he shouted, his voice raspy and dry. He wanted to grab the little boy from Kara's arms and hold him tightly, never letting him go, but Martin found himself clinging to Kara just to keep his footing. He was too physically weak to stand.

"Mr. Mertens, you need to rest. You've lost a lot of blood. We're going to be back at Hub Island soon," Kara said, slowly setting the agitated Martin back on the floor. She walked away, disappearing to wherever she was before.

However, Martin was a stubborn person. Despite his head throbbing and his body aching, he slowly stood up - wobbly at first, but he managed to steady himself. Using the wall to support himself, he walked over to the small control area that Kara was in. The ship appeared to be on autopilot, as Kara was simply playing with Finn as they flew back to the Island.

"Can I see my son?" he asked, leaning against the wall.

"Mr. Mertens, you are not physically capable to do that," Kara said as she saw just how much Martin was clinging to the wall to simply stay standing.

"Well I'm standing, aren't I-!"

Martin was cut off by the ship jolting to a stop on the tough grassy ground. He suddenly fell forward, but luckily managed to cushion his damaged head with his arms. "We're here," Kara said nonchalantly.

Without warning, Kara grabbed Martin by the waist, throwing him over her shoulder as she held Finn securely with her other arm. "Hey, is this necessary?!" Martin moaned, but Kara didn't respond.

"Seeker X-J-7-7 has returned," the ship announced as Kara departed. Soon after, the ship flew itself away to the docking area.

Martin watched the ground as Kara carried him away, sighing. All he needed to do was get to Minerva and explain this misunderstanding that was actually a misunderstanding this time. Then they could just go on with life and just raise their child…

"Excellent work, Kara. I knew I could count on you."

Martin peered around Kara's arm to see a tan woman with a wheelchair. She wasn't a Helper - she wasn't wearing a white hat or a lab coat. No, this lady definitely wasn't a Helper, but Martin sure knew who she was. She was Dr. Gross, instructor of Seekers and experimental scientist.

He immediately grew irritated.

Kara set Martin down in the wheelchair. Carefully, Kara also placed baby Finn into Martin's arms, which immediately calmed the older man down.

"I'll alert Dr. Minerva of their arrival immediately," Dr. Gross stated with a smile. "Thank you so much, Kara. You've done great work." With that, the Seeker smiled and nodded, walking away from the hospital.

Martin looked down at Finn as Dr. Gross wheeled them inside the hospital. The baby looked content with his new surroundings. It was familiar and tranquil. "I'm so sorry, buddy," Martin whispered, gingerly holding his child close to his chest. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"You know, I tried to warn Minerva about you," Dr. Gross interjected self-righteously as they entered the medical facility. Martin glared at her. "The minute I heard she didn't send you to re-ed, I grew suspicious. And now look what's happened: you fooled her long enough to have a child that you took with you when you damaged the Guardian and left the Island. I was right all along." She nodded to the clerk at the front desk, who let them in once he saw who they were.

"Look, I wasn't trying to leave. I was trying to keep me and my son safe by circling around the Island. It just started stormin' and we got into the Guardian's range. I did what I had to do to protect Finn," Martin said defensively. He looked ahead without saying another word.

Dr. Gross wheeled Martin into Minerva's care unit. She scoffed. "Whatever the case, you can't charm your way out of re-ed this time," she stated, letting go the wheelchair's handles. Then, while Martin wasn't paying attention, she swiped Finn out of his arms.

"Hey!" Martin shouted, trying to reach for his son, but Dr. Gross was already walking away. Other Helpers began to crowd Martin's vision.

"I'm getting him a specialist to see if he has any injuries. You'll get to see him after you've completed re-education. Ta-ta!" Martin wanted to push past all the Helpers and steal back his son, especially when he heard him crying, but he knew he couldn't.

His heart dropped, but he stayed determined nonetheless. He just had to wait for Minnie.

The Helpers had put Martin in a hospital gown and thrown him on a bed. It felt familiar. Was this the same one he was in when he first met Minerva? Small world. Or small island, rather.

A female Helper with curly black hair started to clean Martin's wounds, starting with the cut on his head. Another Helper started to check Martin's vitals - something that felt strangely familiar, despite him not having recent memory of anything of the like. He simply stayed silent as the healthcare professionals poked and prodded him. He just needed to wait for Minnie.

"Vitals seem relatively normal, besides a slight drop in body temperature. What're the severity of his wounds, Dr. Slik?" asked the Helper who held a stethoscope to Martin's chest.

"This gash on his head is pretty deep. His whole body seems to be badly bruised. Probably has a concussion given his medical history and current condition," Dr. Slik replied. She started to wrap bandages around Martin's head.

"I see," the other Helper said. He held up his hand a few feet away from Martin's face, putting up his index and middle fingers. "Sir, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two?" Martin replied quizzically with a raised eyebrow.

The Helper nodded. He grabbed a clipboard, reading over the contents attached to it. "Well, Dr. Campbell can decide the proper treatment for this patient. Are you done wrapping the open wounds?"

"Yes, Dr. Vivant," Dr. Slik replied. She smiled at Martin in a way that almost seemed forced. "Get well soon, sir! Enjoy re-education!" She then walked out with Dr. Vivant, leaving Martin alone in the care unit.

It seemed like hours before someone else came. Sure, people passed outside the opening to the care unit, but no one ever entered. Martin had nearly fallen asleep by the time he heard footsteps walk into the room.

Slowly, he turned his damaged head. In the opening to the care unit stood a woman, his lovely wife, though she looked distraught and tired. She didn't even have on her Helper's uniform or anything, just simply one of Martin's old sweatshirts and some jeans.

"Minnie?" Martin asked as the woman made her way over to his hospital bed, pulling up a chair. She didn't say anything. She simply looked at the floor, tears obviously welling in her eyes.

Martin wanted to reach out. He wanted to wipe her tears away and comfort her, but he ultimately just stayed put, staring up at the ceiling. "So, uh… have you checked up on Finn?" he asked awkwardly, trying to break the tension.

"Yes," Minerva answered quietly, her voice hardly even a whisper.

"...Is he okay?"

"He's in better condition than you. Just a little cold, but he's fine."

Before Martin could even say anything else, Minerva spoke again, causing Martin to turn his head towards her. "Why?" she asked, wiping the tears off her face. Her voice was still very soft. "Why did you leave? Why did you take Finn?"

Her head rose, and that's when Martin fully realized the extent that his actions had upset her. Her eyes were very red, tiredly drooping and still brimming with tears. Her face was stained with tears. She even seemed to shake a little.

It made his heart hurt more than anything. He caused this.

"It's a long story, but I swear, it's not what you think," he said in a quiet voice, trying not to escalate things even further. Minerva didn't respond, so he simply continued. "These Hiders broke into our house while Finn and I were waiting for you to get home. Two of 'em were people I conned, while the others were just back up, I guess."

Minerva simply stared at Martin, her head slightly tilted. "Is that why our windows were broken?" she asked.

"Yeah…" Martin sighed, shaking his head. "I just didn't know what those guys were gonna do. They looked like they were planning on beating me or somethin', but I had Finn, so for both our sakes I jumped out the window and ran. I got the raft and went down to Basket Beach. I was planning on just circling around the island with Finn so those goons couldn't get to us. I was about to send you a text and everything, but then it just started storming like crazy. The waves pushed the raft out into the Guardian's range, and… Well, you know how that thing works. I was afraid he was gonna hurt Finn, so I left him on the raft and jumped on the Guardian. I managed to punch that thing in the eye, used that little face lazer gadget, and the eye exploded. I just remember crashing into the water, and next thing I know I'm a Seeker ship.

"I've never been a Hider, Min, and I would never hurt our son."

He looked at her with a rather light somber expression. Nothing was exaggerated or insincere. This wasn't some sick con, as much as Dr. Gross thought otherwise. He just hoped that Minerva would realize that as well.

Minerva stared at the wall, processing the story she had just been told. The events did line up with what had happened a few nights before, and, no offense to Martin, but he couldn't come up with that elaborate of an excuse in such little time. That wasn't how he conned, and he hadn't conned in years.

It was true. It had to be.

Tears began to fall down Minerva's face involuntarily, but they were tears of a different kind. She was smiling. "Oh, Martin," she said, leaning down to hug her injured husband. He gratefully hugged back. "I'm so glad you're safe."

"Jake, are you crying?" Bonnie asked curiously, staring at the stretching dog.

"No! This room's just dusty or somethin'," Jake said defensively, not-so-subtly wiping the immensely noticeable tears from his eyes. "Prismo, can you fast forward?" he suddenly asked, crossing his arms in defiance.

"I can, if that's cool with everyone else," Prismo responded, his shadow-esque hand over the remote. He looked at the remaining two guests for approval. Bonnie politely said yes, while Finn just simply shrugged and said, "Whatevs, man." His focused gaze never left the TV wall.

Prismo fast forwarded the video, only it stopping when it appeared Martin, Minerva, and baby Finn had all made it back to their cozy little house. Everyone's eyes were glued to the wall as the video continued at its normal speed.

Martin opened the door to their house, seeing the broken glass of the windows and the vase swept into a corner. Besides that, things appeared to be at least somewhat tidy, like Minerva wanted to clean, but couldn't find the motivation. Martin frowned.

He let Minerva in the house before following and closing the door. "I'm going to put Finn to bed. He's had a rough time. I'll be back in a second," Minerva said, disappearing into the halls.

"Okay!" Martin responded, slowly sitting down on his couch. He was so glad to be home, but it just felt… different. Everything did, even this damn couch.

Moments later, Minerva returned to the living room. Wordlessly, she sat down next to Martin on the couch, taking his hand in hers. "Will your past continue to come back like this?" she asked quietly, looking at him with concern. "We can't risk something else like this, Martin."

Martin slowly nodded. "I don't know. Those two were the only ones who held a grudge even after re-ed, but… I dunno. But hey, at least now we can prepare," Martin said with a shrug.

"With what, stronger glass?" Minerva asked with an eyebrow raised. Her eyes travelled to the pile of swept up glass that she hadn't bothered to move in days.

Martin eyes had followed hers. "I mean, I guess?" he answered, dragging out the last word in uncertainty. Though, with tougher glass, he wouldn't have been able to escape so quickly. Those Hiders might've caught him somewhere in his house. After all, that tiger was pretty fast.

In spite of the situation, Minerva gave a small chuckle, shaking her head. "Trouble just follows you everywhere, doesn't it?" she teased.

"What can I say? No one can resist the patent-pending Merten's Charm," Martin responded, his eyes closed. He held his free arm behind his head as her crossed one leg over the other. Slowly, he opened his eyes, looking at his wife in his peripheral vision. "Wink," he said as he did the action.

Minerva slowly shook her head as she chuckled. "We'll get through this, even if I have to drag you along," she joked, standing up from the couch.

"No need. I'll be there every step of the way," Martin assured, holding a serious smile on his face now.

|FAST FORWARD|

Martin was whistling to himself as he put on a cooking glove. Friday nights were always the best nights; it meant he got to make hot wings! He absent-mindedly opened the stove, grabbing a pan of breaded chicken and putting it on the counter.

Ah, that greasy smell! Martin couldn't help but smile. Life was good. Life was normal.

He reached over to grab the wing sauce with his opposite hand, only to feel a distracting tug at his pant leg. He looked down to see his five-year-old son gazing up at him with tears in his eyes. Finn held tightly onto the fabric of Martin's pants.

"Hey, hey! Buddy, what's wrong?" Martin asked, crouching down so he was eye-level with the young child.

"My teeff," the child responded, pointing to a gap in his teeth where his front two incisors would be.

Martin chuckled slightly at the lack of articulation in Finn's wording. If two missing teeth were the biggest problem in the world, parenting a school-aged kid would surely be a breeze! "Well, those grow back! Just gotta be patient, little man!" he reassured, giving his son a bright smile as he ruffled his hair.

However, this only seemed to upset Finn greatly. He shoved his father's arm off him, loudly shouting, "No!" Tears began to stream down his face.

Martin's face faltered immediately, his heart sinking within his chest. Okay, okay, so maybe this would be more like an extremely windy day… He cringed as he looked at his son, who was on the brink of a breakdown or temper-tantrum of sorts.

Taking the oven mitt off his hand, Martin stood up fully. Finn's eyes followed him upwards. "Hey, I'll tell you what? Let's go to our Barber Shop for a minute, eh? That sound okay?" Martin spoke tenderly, hands at his waist.

Silently, Finn nodded.

Well, we're making progress, Martin thought.

The father grabbed his son from the ground, delicately placing him in one of the red dining chairs. He untied the apron from around his waist, shaking it off before loosely tying it around his son, just as he would during a work shift.

"Ah, Mr. Finn! So nice to see you today! What'll it be?" he said, putting on his 'work voice' and an award-winning smile. He knelt down so that he could easily reach Finn's hair.

In spite of all this, however, Finn just simply looked down at his dangling feet. "Just a trim…" he trailed of dejectedly.

Martin pursed his lips, slowly nodding his head. He smacked loudly. "Just a trim, gotcha… Say, what's got you down, pal? That drag in your tone could bring down a boat!" he stated, gently placing his hand on his son's shoulder.

Finn sighed, visibly clenching the side of his seat. "Sorry, Mr. Mertens… I'fe had a bad day," he replied rather maturely, straightening his head as if his father was actually about to cut his hair.

"If you need to spit something out, I'm all ears, Mr. Finn! It's just you, me, and these here scissors," Martin energetically promised. He held up his hand, forming two fingers into fake scissors. He began to pretend that he was literally cutting Finn's hair.

"T'ese kids were really mean to me today at school," he stared. "I had to read to t'uh class, and I couldn' say some words, 'cause I don' got my two top teeff!" He once more pointed to the absent teeth inside his mouth. "T'ey kept laughing and teasing me… It didn't make me feel good, Dadda." Finn hugged himself anxiously, solemnly looking down at the floor once more.

Martin frowned, setting both his arms at his sides. So this is what he was dealing with, some self-entitled toddlers? He thought for a small moment. "Well, that just means your adult teeth are comin' in! Nothing to be worried about, just ask your mom. But it's not your fault your front teeth decided to fall out at the same time. They just wanted to go out together, I guess. But, the thing is, that's normal. Teeth do that. Nothing's wrong with it. And if those punks disagree, they can beat it!" Martin stated, untying the stained apron from around Finn's neck.

Finn quickly turned around in the chair, giving his father distressed eyes. "But what if t'ey don' go away?" he whispered intensely, gripping the chair so tightly that his knuckles were almost paper white.

"You can trust that your ol' Pop will make 'em, okay?" Martin smiled, pointing confidently to himself. "That's a promise, Finn."

Finn smiled back, reaching over the back of the dining chair to hug his dad. "T'ank you, Dadda."

"You're welcome, kiddo. That'll be $11.50."

|X|

Finn watched the video with intense concentration, intently focusing on the fabrication of what his life could've been. A tear involuntarily slid down his cheek. Martin wasn't in any sort of prison, nor was he a heartless jerk; his mother was still alive, and she was beautiful; and he himself had absolutely no cares in the world.

They were all just so happy. It was a good life, a life that he could've had, a life that Martin could've had. Could he really fault his dad for not making this wish a reality in their timeline? Maybe not entirely, but Martin certainly didn't come back for him in any capacity…

Would he even want this life over his own?

He hardly noticed that Prismo had stopped the video. He just stared blankly at the wall, trying mull over what he'd just seen: an alternate universe, a universe that could've been his with the change of one detail…

"Hey," said a voice that caught Finn off-guard. He quickly turned around, seeing that the wish master Prismo was now on the wall to his right. "I'm sorry, man. I shouldn't have showed you that."

"I'm sorry, too, Finn," said Bonnie, who was sitting to the right of Finn. Her eyes were full of guilt as she looked down at the yellow floor. "I never should've put you through this," she said, hugging herself.

Finn stared at his two pink friends; both of their expressions were laced with regret. Because of him. Immediately, he went into a spiel, "No, no. It's fine, really. I think I needed this." He looked at the T.V. wall, which was now blank and yellow, just like every other surface in this room. He then turned back to Prismo and Bonnie. "That might not be my life, and I might never meet my mom, but it's nice to know I wasn't abandoned. Not on purpose, at least…"

"Do you feel different at all? About Martin?" Bonnie asked, not being able to help herself when she saw he far-off gaze in her hero's eyes.

Finn simply shrugged. "Not really. He's still a jerk, but I guess now I know why."

"Pssssssssshhh!" Jake started, standing up as he held out the word. All the others in the room all turned their heads towards him, who had been strangely quiet these past few minutes. He gave a small tut. "Y'all shouldn't even bother apologizing! Yeah, Finn might not have that family, but he's got this family! And we all love him!" He stretched his arms, holding Finn in a tight embrace. "Besides, that place looks boring," Jake complained, though Finn suspected it was his way of convincing himself that Finn preferred Ooo over Hub Island.

Finn couldn't help but form a small smile. He turned around as best he could with Jake's arms wrapped around him, facing the shadow that the far wall. "Thank you Prismo, for everything," Finn said.

Prismo gave a somewhat somber smile. "It's no problem, man."

"Prismo, take us home!" Jake exclaimed.

That thought seemed so strange to Finn, going home. It wouldn't quite be the same.

He did change, after all.

A/N: Hey guys! Hope you all had happy holidays! :) This is the final chapter of Finn and Marty! I hope you all enjoyed!

~Emily Believes xoxo