A/N: This can be read as a stand-alone, but it's also kinda linked to the eighth chapter of The Accidental(?) Kidnapping(s) of Smiling Finn. Not a continuation, but it has the same theme.

In this AU, Finn hasn't made an appearance in season three. Fontaine explains what happened, and this takes place near the beginning of the Just Eaten episode.

"So… you're all hearing 'trap,' right?"

"It's a call from a ship in distress," Will said. "We can't ignore that."

Fontaine just cocked her head and turned toward the front.

Alpheus' sub seemed to be in distress. Most of the exposed metal was a rusty red-brown, as if he'd scraped every tendril on his way. Some of the lights on the sub were flickering or completely dark. Alpheus was tricky, but Fontaine didn't think he'd sabotage his submarine.

"I guess we can't," Fontaine said. "What's the plan?"

"We'll take the Rover to the sub," Will said.

"I'll stay here, just in case Alpheus is up to something," Kaiko said.

"I don't know," Ant said. "Alpheus is usually talking by now."

Fontaine eyed the sub. Alpheus had completely vanished after the near disaster with the Kraken four months before. What could he have planned?

It didn't take long for the Nektons to indulge their curiosity. Will, Fontaine, and Ant took the Rover to Alpheus' sub, where ARIA let them aboard.

Fontaine was tense when they surfaced in Alpheus' Moon Pool, but everything looked normal. The edges of the pool were a bit corroded, but everything not touching the water was intact.

Ant was almost comically skeptical when ARIA welcomed them aboard. Will was completely serious as he acknowledged the greeting, and stayed in front of Fontaine and Ant as they walked deeper into the sub.

"The bridge is on your left," ARIA said.

Fontaine turned to the door. The door opened without its usual smoothness, jamming halfway before sliding into the walls. She shifted, worry that maybe ARIA hadn't been faking the state of the sub, then followed Will.

On the bridge, the pilot seat was turned away from the door. Fontaine almost didn't see Alpheus, then she noticed on foot resting on the floor.

There was a brief silence as Alpheus apparently ignored them. Will cleared his throat and said Alpheus' name. The foot twitched the chair around, facing the Nektons with Alpheus for the first time in four months.

Alpheus looked rough. He slumped in his seat, unruly hair hanging over his unfocused eyes. His cheeks and chin had a bit of a scraggly beard.

Alpheus stared at the Nektons for a second,then dropped his face into his hands with a groan.

"ARIA? This is not good." Alpheus drew his hands down his face, then covered his eyes again. "I'm… I'm seeing things again."

Fontaine's eyes widened, all of her remaining suspicion vanishing. Alpheus sounded way too miserable to be faking, not to mention he'd never even pretend to be in such a state to fool the Nektons.

"Are you seeing William, Fontaine, and Antaeus Nekton?" ARIA chimed in.

Alpheus studied them. "Yes." He braced his elbow on the arm of the chair and dropped his chin on his hand. "I've really lost it now."

"You lost it a long time ago," Fontaine thought.

"Incorrect," ARIA said. "They are present."

Alpheus straightened. "What?"

While everyone tried to absorb that what they were seeing really was real, another door on the bridge opened. Someone stormed into the room, already talking.

"-told you to stay off the bridge," the boy said, sounding painfully familiar to Fontaine. "Staring into space isn't going to get us out, Alpheus."

Fontaine gaped at Finn as he stalked toward Alpheus. Finn looked exactly as Fontaine remembered, except he wore a casual red shirt, black jeans, and black water shoes. His hair stuck straight up like an agitated puffer fish, matching his frustrated expression.

But, it couldn't be Finn. Fontaine starkly remembered Hammerhead grimly stating Finn was missing two months ago.

The Nektons had begun a search for Finn, using their connections from the WOA to the floating black market. After a month, when every search had come to a dead end and nobody had seen Finn, the Nektons had come to a sorrowful decision to call off the searches. Finn had too many enemies -being a pirate's son- and had been missing for too long.

And yet, here Finn was, alive and well.

Fontaine reminded herself to breathe. She looked at Will. Maybe Alpheus wasn't the only one seeing things, even if he really wasn't.

Will was staring at Finn as though he'd seen a ghost. Ant was leaning forward, eyes wide. So, Fontaine wasn't the only one seeing Finn.

Fontaine turned back to Finn at the same time he spotted them.

Finn froze, blue eyes widening. He blinked a couple times, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, either. Before anyone else could speak, Finn's expression returned to annoyance.

"Oh, great," Finn huffed. "ARIA, are hallucinations catchy?"

"No, they are not."

Fontaine finally found her voice. "Finn!"

Finn twitched. "Sure sounds like Fontaine."

"I know, right?" Alpheus said with a slightly hysterical laugh.

"That's because I-" Fontaine shook her head. "Finn, you're here?"

"Obviously."

"Finn is there?" Kaiko asked over the comms.

Alpheus' expression turned curious. "I didn't know Kaiko was invisible."

"She's not," Finn assured him. "At least, not the real Kaiko."

"I… am the real Kaiko."

"Uh-huh, just like this Fontaine is the real-" Finn poked Fontaine, then leaped back with a yelp. "You are real!"

"Duh! Finn, what are you doing here?" Fontaine asked.

"They're really-" Alpheus pushed himself to his feet in an obvious effort to act normal. "What are you doing here?"

"Seeing things, apparently," Will muttered.

"No one is imagining anything," ARIA assured everyone. "The Nektons are here, Alpheus. As is Finn, Fontaine."

Alpheus eyed the walls, eyes darting around when the walls flickered in time with ARIA's voice. Finn grimaced and went to Alpheus.

"I'll take it from here, Alpheus," Finn said.

"No, this is my submarine," Alpheus said, brushing Finn's hand away.

"Are you okay?" Will asked when Alpheus wavered on his feet.

"Relatively," Finn answered for him. "ARIA said he overused his bionics and kind of fried his brain."

"My brain is not fried," Alpheus said, sounding insulted.

"It is. Just a little bit," Finn said.

"And where do you come into all of this? I mean…" Fontaine looked at Will. "Everyone thinks you're dead. Hammerhead said you just vanished one day."

Finn cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Unfortunate timing. I've helped Alpheus in the past when he was sick, so ARIA came to me when he started to get bad. I was going to go back soon, but then we…" Finn's eyes widened. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

"We followed your distress signal," Will said.

"We never sent a distress signal," Finn said.

"I did," ARIA said.

"ARIA," Finn groaned. "Now they're trapped, too."

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

"You don't know?" Alpheus gave a breathless little laugh and walked to the main port. "We've all been swallowed. Eaten. By this huge, gigantic… Monumential jellyfish."

A/N: There it is. XD I was joking about making a "Finn gets adopted by Alpheus' dad" AU, and then I wondered how this episode would go.

Don't know where it would go from here, aside from Alpheus being stuck with his new "little brother."