Wish You Were Here

**"Wish You Were Here"** is the first episode of the third season of *Juvenile Prosperity*. It is the twenty-first episode of the series overall.

## Plot

*With one shot and left for dead and another taken by the enemy, the Fr8ers are each forced to confront new challenges in the face of division.*

## Synopsis

Just as the sun begins to rise in the Nevada desert, Travis Rogers wakes up with a cry, clutching his still-bleeding side. Reaching into his coat, he pulls out Matthew's canteen, which stopped the bullet but broke in the process, badly injuring him. Travis rolls over to Philip Young's body and tears off parts of his shirt before wrapping it around his body, using the fabric to apply pressure to his torso and slow the bleeding. Checking that all of Archibald's henchmen have left, Travis stands and begins limping across the desert. He stops at a small group of rocks, from which he retrieves his bag of essentials, including a bottle of water. Still bleeding heavily, Travis ties his coat around his waist and sets off towards the road.

Travis walks for several miles along the road; the blood loss, exhaustion and dehydration eventually cause him to start hallucinating. He stops himself from heading to a mirage in the distance and sees a hallucination of Wise beckoning him into the desert. He catches some shade before realizing that he has reached a billboard. Knowing civilization is close, he presses onwards. Near death, he hears an engine nearby and hails the driver, collapsing as the vehicle stops to help him.

Hours later, Travis wakes up delirious and bedbound, his injuries cleaned, stitched and bandaged. He tries to sit up but cries out in pain, drawing the attention of his saviour, a young man with a punk asthetic. The man stops Travis from sitting up and gives him some water, introducing himself as Tommy. Travis asks how long he has been out, and Tommy tells him that it has been a day since he and his sister, Minerva, found him by the side of the road. He offers to take Travis to a hospital, but Travis begs him not to; Tommy continues to offer, but instead Travis asks him if he has been an RV with a blue stripe down the side. Tommy says he hasn't and asks if there is anyone that Travis can contact. From the driver's seat, Minerva says that she is driving to a motel where Travis can try to contact somebody.

Meanwhile, having driven around in circles, Matthew, Marie and Melody drive back into the desert and find the ambush site. Finding a blood trail, Melody begins telepathically searching for Travis while Matthew and Marie take Philip Young's handgun and bury his body. Melody eventually says that she cannot sense Travis nearby, while Marie - a trained tracker - discovers the tire tracks from Archibald's truck. The trio follow the tracks in the Fr8 Train until they reach another road, where the trail goes cold.

Arriving at the motel, Travis strips down, unaware that his various scars are visible to Minerva. He steps into the shower and cleans himself properly for the first time in three years. As he washes his hair, the combination of dehydration, exhaustion and heat stroke causes him to suffer more hallucinations of Wise and, after Travis closes his eyes, of Athena, who begins to caress Travis' cheek. He reaches out to touch her back, only to slip and crash onto the floor, opening up one of his stitches. Travis yells out in pain and asks the twins to help him again, but they refuse. Tossing him a towl to cover himself and his wound, they demand to know why Travis will not go to a hospital. Travis eventually confesses that he is homeless; in response, Minerva and Tommy accuse Travis of being involved in crime and threaten to kick him out. Travis retorts that the twins have clearly been living in their RV for a while and says that, in essence, they are homeless as well.

Matthew, Marie and Melody try to follow Travis' blood trail, only for it to stop just a few metres from the ambush site; Marie correctly deduces that Travis found some way to stop the bleeding and headed for the main road. Melody says that she needs to wait for Travis, wherever he is, to fall asleep in order for her to "read" him. With no clues, the trio decide to camp at the site and wait for Melody to sense Travis.

Back at the motel, Travis finishes telling the story of the Fr8ers and Bernadette's abduction to Minerva and Tommy, leaving out darker details such as the murder of Philip Young. When the twins press for further details, Travis vaguely tells them he was shot by Bernadette's father, Archibald, and left for dead. He thanks the twins once more and tells them he will be leaving once his friends "find" him. Tommy, in an act of altruism, offers to stitch up Travis' open wound but Minerva stops him, demanding money from Travis in exchange for further help. Travis laughs and takes out his bankroll, revealing his last remaining $6 and offers all of it to her. Minerva exchanges a look with Tommy and takes the money from Travis before Tommy returns to their RV to find his stitches. Travis asks Minerva how long they have been on the road, but Minerva ignores him as she cleans Travis' blood from the bathroom.

Tommy offers Travis a shot of whiskey for the pain before re-stitching Travis' wound. During the process, Tommy attempts to distract Travis by asking him questions about vagabonding, such as the best and worst places he has ever visited. Travis cooperates and says the best place he ever visited was the shores of California, but falters when talking about the worst place; as Travis trails off, Tommy notices the track marks on Travis' arms and immediately understands, saying he won't press the issue.

## Trivia

* First appearance of Tommy Colton
* First appearance of Minerva Colton
* This episode, like all episodes of *Season 3*, is named for a song that Travis owns on his Walkman
	+ In this case, the song is Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here".

 **Season 4** | "TBA"