Disclaimers: MST3K and all characters therein belong to BBI. This is non-profit, but it'd be cool if it wasn't, huh?

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He thought he was dreaming. There was no way he could possibly be feeling what he was, so he immediately jumped to the conclusion that this was another dream... he usually dreamt realistically, and as a man with no dark secrets lurking in his soul and nothing but light in his heart, he very rarely had nightmares. And when he did, they usually had something to do with childhood fears he had not quite conquered, not the demons that plagued most.

That was why he thought that the rain coming down in it's soft patter was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. There's no rain in space; no smell of mist and wet grass, no soothing sound of water coming down softly and hitting the ground.

It was only when he heard grumbling and complaining that Mike realized he wasn't dreaming. The rain was real; warm, summer rain. He opened his eyes, but he didn't see anything except the half-demolished bridge of the SOL, the 'bots working their way through the debris, and...

"Oh God..." he whispered to himself. There were trees. They stood roughly the length of a football field away, showing through a hole that had been knocked in the wall. Slowly he got to his feet, wincing a little... nothing was broken, but he had a fair share of bruises and bumps. Still, it was nothing he wouldn't get over with a few days.

Tom hovered over, navigating easier than Gypsy, Crow, or Cambot. "Wow, you are alive! I thought for sure you'd bite it in that one," the little red 'bot commented, no small amount of relief in his voice no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"Gee, thanks," Mike answered, automatically. He tore his gaze from the outside world, and took another look around the bridge. "You guys alright?"

"Yea, but we better make sure we have liability," Crow snickered, picking his way to the opening in the wall. "Watch, we landed on some old hag with striped stockings, and soon we'll be transported to a strange and wacky world."

"I call dibs on Judy Garland!" Tom jumped on the opportunity, following his gold counterpart.

Crow scoffed. "Like she would look twice at you. Those ruby slippers would be worn out in no time with her trying to get away," he mimicked her, "'There's no place like home! There's no place like home!'"

Servo wailed, "Mike! Crow's being mean to me!"

Mike wasn't paying attention at that given moment. He stumbled over the wreckage, trying to get to the opening and the outside world. It was right there; he was afraid that if he blinked it wouldn't be and he'd wake up.

He hesitated at the open space for a moment, looking out. He wasn't aware that he was holding his breath, or that the 'bots were getting into an argument behind him. Then, almost like a child noticing the outside world for the first time, he stepped out.

The ground was spongy from the rain, and his sneakers sank into it slightly. The scent of dirt and mist was in the air, and he remembered at last to take a breath... this wasn't the air-conditioned canned oxygen like on the satellite. The rain continued, but it was a fine, warm rain. There were a million feelings and thoughts that fought for the forefront in his mind, as he knelt down and touched the ground denied to him for a very long time. This was home. After artificial gravity and the cold harshness of space, he was finally home. Part of him wanted to laugh, part of him wanted to break down and sob... instead he smiled a very slight smile and just felt everything.

After a moment of eternity, the 'bots came out as well. Cambot didn't seem to know what to focus on, and the other three had just fallen silent from their argument about the Wizard of Oz. It was then that they realized that nothing would be the same.

"What now?" Tom asked, tentatively. He hovered out, but was driven back to the gap by the rain.

Mike stood from his kneel, not caring that his hands were now dirty. "I guess we find some way of getting ahold of my parents... at least we'll have someplace to go then."

Gypsy nodded. "They undoubtedly tracked the reentry with radar, and I believe they probably will send the military here. It's only a matter of time."

Mike blinked. She sounded so calm and spoke so well... it surprised him until he realized that she had full use of her massive intelligence now that she didn't need to control the SOL. "Do we want to stick around for that?"

"I dunno... will we be famous?" Crow asked, walking a little further into the field to look around.

"More likely infamous," Gypsy answered, also looking out. "NASA Board of Inquiry, the FBI, the CIA, Military Intelligence... it's not every day that an unknown satellite crashes to Earth with occupants."

Mike swallowed hard, looking back at the purple 'bot. That was the last way he could imagine enjoying his first few months back on Earth; scientists, doctors, and secret agents. "Is there any way to get out of it?"

"Leave," she said, still very calm. "Leave now, and I'll remain here to deal with them."

"I can't--" Mike started, unwilling to leave her behind to take the fall for him and the others.

Gypsy wouldn't hear it, and interrupted, "If you don't, you'll end up being interrogated. Once they find out that you're not an enemy spy, they'll hand you over to their scientists to see what sort of effects being in orbit for so long had on you. When all of the testing and all of the investigations are over, you might get sent home. Or you might not."

This wasn't the best thing to have to deal with this quickly. Actually, it wasn't something Mike wanted to deal with at all... he had read enough spy novels and science fiction in his day that it dawned on him; she was right. There would be investigations and red tape to wade through... and there was the likelihood that it would be a very long time before he was finally free to wander about. It wasn't a pleasant thought. "What about you?" he finally questioned, unsure of where to go and what to do.

"I'll stay here. When they come, I'll tell them that I was created as part of an experiment, and that I was the only one on board," Gypsy replied. "I'll be fine. Trust me. Now go before they get here."

Mike hesitated again, and even Crow and Tom started to protest. They were a family, even if an occasionally dysfunctional one. No one wanted to leave her behind. "Why can't you come with us?" Crow asked, for once not trying to hide worry from the group.

"If we all leave, they'll follow. If I stay, I can hold them off for at least long enough to give you a head start," she said, impatiently. "Time's wasting, just go!"

The reason of her plan was pretty clear, and Tom and Crow obeyed. Mike started after them, then on an impulse turned back and kissed Gypsy on her purple nose. "I'll be back if I can find a way," he swore, solemnly, and then walked after the two 'bots ahead. Cambot made to follow, then stopped and returned to Gypsy's side. The three ahead looked back to see if the camera 'bot was coming, but it became evident Cambot intended to stay behind. So, with worries of what would become of them weighing on their minds, the three wanderers headed off into the rain.


Night fell, and the air got a bit cooler, but it was still tolerable. The rain had tapered off. All around were copses of trees and mostly open fields of crop. Mike avoided the corn fields, aside for taking cover once or twice when a car went by on the small, barely paved road they had found. He was tired and worried, but even with that he still found himself marveling at everything he had missed while in space. Crickets and tree frogs, fog raising... it was almost like all of his senses were hypersensitive to the environment. Everything was all at once strange and wonderful, and brought on a rush of memories he had no wish to fight back.

Tom was nestled into the crook on one of his arms, off in sleep mode. Crow was still on his own, though, a trooper if there ever was one. He grumbled about everything... the worms that were on the road, the fog, everything. "'Nother worm, dang things keep getting stuck in my feet, I swear I'm gonna take over the world and eradicate all of 'em... not even this many of the bastards in Squirm..." his mumbled rantings became inaudible again.

Mike smiled, finding it a little amusing. "Want me to carry you too?"

"I'm not a sissy like the fairy 'bot there," Crow answered, almost growling. "I don't need carried because I'm tired, and I have legs and not a little hoverskirt..." he turned his complaining from the worms to Tom.

Mike just shook his head, chuckling to himself. He was an optimist by nature, and though he would complain quite a bit himself, it didn't do any good to complain right now. All that mattered now was finding some way of calling his parents, getting home, and rebuilding his life... instead of letting himself get depressed at having to claw his way from the gutter, he simply took it without question and decided to make the best of it.

They must have walked a good 15 miles or more, and when Mike caught sight of a darkened barn through the haze and blackness, he thought of a way he could sneak over there. The house wasn't set too far from the barn itself, and all of the lights were off. Eyebrows drawn, he tracked a course in his mind and hoped that there wouldn't be any dogs involved. Quietly, he reached down and closed Crow's beak in mid-gripe, and pointed to the barn. Crow looked at it as well, understanding what Mike was planning... it was pretty obvious, after all.

They trekked their way towards the barn, moving as quietly as possible. No dogs barked, and no one in the house gave any indicator that they had been noticed. Mike winced, trying to juggle the still sleeping Tom and the door to the barn, but he finally got it open enough to slip his bulky frame through, and Crow had no trouble following.

It was dry in there, and down the way some cows shuffled around. Mike looked around, letting his eyes adjust the even dimmer light than was outside, only one small bulb at the other end of the structure lighting the way. It took longer than he expected, and he made his way to the ladder up to the hay loft. Quickly climbing, he set Tom down in the straw at the top, then went back and carried Crow up as well. Worn out from the day, and then the night of walking, he burrowed into the straw, stifling a yawn.

"Would we get into trouble?" Crow whispered, looking around nervously.

Mike nodded, mischievous grin on his face. "Probably," he replied, equally as quiet. "I used to all the time when I was a kid."

"Think Gyps and Cambot'll be okay?" the gold 'bot asked, trying to get comfortable in a strange place with strange noises all around, and the worry of getting into trouble pressing on his thoughts.

"I think they will be," Mike reassured, closing his eyes. "And so will we."

Crow accepted this, wanting very much to believe it, and went offline. Mike remained awake a little longer, but eventually he drifted off as well with the smell of hay and thoughts of his childhood settling into his dreams.


"Hey, wake up," a hushed voice broke into Mike's sleep, taking him from dreams of home and of long summer days running about with his dog Sunny. He blinked hazily, feeling the bumps and such that he had gotten yesterday even more. In front of him knelt a sandy haired man, thin framed, with a small device that had a blinking light on top. Mike glanced over, noticing that Crow had ended up under one arm and Tom under the other, then back at the man. He wasn't sure if he was seeing things right or not. "Joel...?"

Joel nodded, looking around nervously. "Yea, c'mon. We have to go before anyone notices my car."

Mike got up slowly, wincing at the movement. "But..."

"I'll explain in the car." Joel smiled slightly, picking Crow up as gently as he would an egg. "Get Tom, and follow me." And with that, he started down the ladder.

Mike picked Servo up, still letting all of this sink into his tired and half-sleeping mind. Where had he come from? How? Why was he there? Still, there was enough time for questions later, and it would be a good idea to get out of there. At least Joel was familiar, and even though Mike hadn't been too impressed with him when he had returned to the SOL briefly, he was still relieved. He climbed down, and then followed the shorter man out into the early morning blanket of fog... he couldn't have been asleep for longer than a few hours and he certainly felt it.

They walked a little ways to where Joel's car was parked, and the two men put the snoozing robots in the back seat of the new navy blue Cavalier. Mike crawled into the passenger's seat, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. He really was tired out, but he resisted the urge to fall back into lala land and waited for Joel to start the car and get aways down the road before asking, "How'd you find us?"

Joel glanced over, smiling wryly. "It's not every day that an unknown satellite crashes in the middle of Iowa... the news was all over it."

"What about Gypsy and Cambot?"

"Gypsy managed to play the media off of the military." Joel grinned, proudly. "The media got there first and she dazzled them with the biggest fish story I ever heard."

Mike chuckled, holding his arms as far apart as he could without interfering with Joel's driving, "It was this big."

"She's a good girl," Joel murmured, regret running across his features as he glanced in the rearview at Tom and Crow in the back seat. "Back when I built these guys, I built in a little tracking device in case we ever did get to Earth and they would get lost. I didn't think it would still work after all this time, but..." he shrugged, "I'm glad it did."

"Me too." Mike nodded in agreement, closing his eyes again. "Iowa, huh? And you live in Minnesota? Hell of a drive."

"All night and not exactly obeying speed limits." Joel turned off onto a state route. "I figured it would be better to keep going and not stop instead of risk you guys getting nailed by Military Intelligence."

"Trying to explain to them would be a hoot... 'Oh, yea, I was working for this mad scientist in this dungeon lab in Minnesota, and the next thing I knew, I was on this satellite in orbit so he could show me bad movies'," Mike laughed, but it was broken by a yawn. Joel had the defroster on, and the heat was making him drowsy again.

Joel smirked. "You know, I guess you don't notice how insane it sounds until you try to explain it to someone who wasn't a part of it."

"Ya..." Mike grinned slightly, leaning his head against the window. "They'd cart me off to the loony bin for that one."

"The nice young men in the clean white coats, they're coming to take me away!" Joel nodded, smiling a bit himself. "I'll wake you guys up when we stop, okay?"

"Fine by me," Mike yawned again. It took him about thirty seconds to fall back asleep.


"JOEL! JoelJoelJoelJoelJoel!!!" Crow's high-pitched and overjoyed voice snapped Mike back to reality. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, glancing at the dashboard clock. 10:22 AM. He would probably offer a finger for a good and full eight hours sleep.

Tom immediately woke up as well, and in moments the two 'bots were chattering a mile a minute, overlapping each other before Joel laughed, "Whoa, guys, slow down. We have plenty of time..."

The robots were silent for a second and then broke back into their quick-paced talk. Mike grinned; some things never changed, and that was a relief. He didn't break up the conversation, though, just let his head fall back against the window and tuned them out. He had gotten pretty good at that over the years.

The sun was shining, and it felt incredibly good. He really wanted to look out at the scenery, but it felt like there were ten ton weights attached to his eyelids, and the sunlight was putting him back to sleep quicker than anything else could. He remembered a long time ago when he would sit down at the pond and snooze in the sun, and how heavy the air felt in midsummer. Even in Wisconsin. The sky seemed so close then, in it's deep blue, and there were times he was sure he could climb a tree and touch it. Now he just relaxed, letting it carry him off again.


"What're you doing now?" Crow asked, when the conversation finally calmed down no less than 20 minutes later.

Joel looked in the rearview again, regarding the gold 'bot, then back at the road. "I own a restaurant up in St. Paul."

"Really?" Tom hovered up in between the seats. "Can we work there?"

"I don't see why not," Joel chuckled. "Long as you two don't go playing jokes on the customers."

"Awwww... no flies in the soup or anything?" Crow sort-of-pouted, as well as a robot could pout.

Joel laughed, "I don't think they would appreciate that, and I'll bet they wouldn't come back."

"Where'd you get that kind of money, anyway?" the gold 'bot asked, squeezing in between Tom and the seat and vying for Joel's attention. Even with their shenanigans, they did their best not to disturb Mike, who slept soundly with a peaceful little smile still playing on his face.

"NASA bought one of my inventions," Joel answered, pulling into a roadside motel. "Okay with you two if we stop here for a while and try to get organized?"

"I don't care," Crow answered, and Tom echoed.

Joel shut the car off and took the keys out of the ignition, opening the door. "You two wake Mike and I'll get us a couple of rooms." He got out, closing the door behind him.

Crow gave Mike a good push in the shoulder after taking a long moment to look around. "MIKE!!"

Mike jumped, sitting upright with the 'Deer in the Headlights' look that he practically had trademarked, gasping at the shock, "What?!"

"We're stopping here," Tom supplied, helpfully. "C'mon, there's Joel with the keys."

Joel waited outside while Mike drug himself out of the car and the two 'bots followed, jumping around like excited kids. Joel grinned, tossing Mike a key, then looking back at his creations. "Hey guys, why don't you guys hang out with me and we can get some cookies or grapes or something?"

Mike gave him a grateful look and went to the room number written on the tag. Crow nodded, and Tom followed his example; there was a lot to catch up on however they looked at it, and Joel hadn't stayed long enough last time to tell all of the stories that they wanted to tell. The 'bots and their creator walked down towards a little stand selling fruit down the road, and Mike unlocked the room. He closed the door behind him, locked it, and without even taking his shoes off, he dropped on the bed and crashed back to oblivion.


He woke up again 10 hours later, feeling like he could take on the world. The uninterrupted rest had done a world of good, and now he was starving, badly in need of a shower, and awake enough to realize both of those things. After a long shower, a glare in the mirror, and a wanton wish for a razor, he shrugged into his dirty jumpsuit and walked outside.

Joel's door was open, and the three of them watched and riffed the Weather Channel. Mike knocked on the door softly, and Crow looked up. "Hey, sleeping beauty is back with us... you look like a bear, Mike."

"I know, I know," Mike replied, sheepishly. "I'm working on a beard."

"Going for that burly look?" Tom snickered. "Or just trying to get your winter coat in?"

"I have an electric razor." Joel nodded towards the bathroom, coming to the rescue.

Mike stepped past them. "Thanks."

After a quick and much-needed shave, he came back and the four of them automatically fell into riffing the TV... this time CNN. Old habits died hard, and it was doubtful any of them would ever be able to take a movie seriously again... or even television. Dr. Forrester and Pearl hadn't broken them, but they sure had left an impression on them.

"And in other news, the unknown satellite has been moved to Kennedy Space Center for further studies. The two robots have accompanied the wreckage..." the reporter read, expressionlessly.

"NASA," Mike mused, leaning forward and trying to catch more, but the man had already turned back to the sports. "I hope they're alright."

"Me too," Tom said. "Those people are kinda creepy if you ask me."

"Very creepy when they want something from you," Joel affirmed, watching in case any other news of it came on. "I think they'll be okay, but I wish there was some way to know for sure."

Crow munched on a cookie, nonchalantly. "Why not go and get 'em? Then you know they'll be safe."

"But how? They're probably locked down like Fort Knox." Mike sighed, "We're two humans and two robots strong... not exactly a strike force."

"But maybe a covert ops force." Joel grinned, suddenly getting an idea. "I'll bet if we came up with a good enough plan, we could do it."

"You're nuts." Mike gave him a look of incredulous disbelief. "You look tired... maybe you should get some sleep."

"He always looks like that," Servo said, then continued, "I think it'd be cool to pull one over on NASA, though. I'm with Joel on this one."

Crow jumped in, "Count me in! Maybe some uber-babe spy lady will see me in action and then we'll..."

"Crow!" Mike and Joel shouted in unison.

Crow cringed. "You didn't even know what I was gonna say!"

The two humans gave him a look, then Mike looked back at Joel. "Do you honestly think we could break into Kennedy Space Center, get past all that security, and get them out without getting caught?"

Joel nodded, perfectly serious. "Trust me, I do."

Mike took a deep breath, studying the floor, and running it over in his mind for a long moment. There were a lot of things they would have to plan for, and a lot of things that could go wrong, but if they could do it, then they would all be back together again. One big dysfunctional family. Finally, having come to a decision, the Wisconsinite looked back up, determination written on his face, and said resolutely, "Let's do it."

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Note: More to come later, folks! Anyone feels like tossing me an idea or two, feel free, or just sit back and enjoy the ride.