A boat explodes in the swamp and a woman, Abigail, is thrown into the water. She hears a baby girl crying and swims toward where it's floating in a box.
Will jerks awake from his dream of the boat exploding and looks out the window to see Abigail running down the street. He runs outside to offer her his blanket, and takes her inside. Abigail finishes his thought, saying that she'd like something hot to drink, and introduces herself. 'Will explains that he works as a cook in the restaurant below his apartment, and Abigail starts to say that she worked in the government house. She says that she hasn't had a lot of experience, and casually says that she got exploded off of a boat.
Will explains that was his dream, and realizes that Abigail was the girl in his dream. Abigail says that she often stumbles into people's dreams, and Abigail asks him not to call the sheriff. She explains that she gets a feeling sometimes, and Will notices a barcode tattooed on her thigh. Abigail sees Will seeing it and says that it's a laser tattoo, and invites him to touch it. He wonders why it's there, and she wonders why he asks so many questions. Abigail asks if she can keep the blanket, and asks Will to hold her so she doesn't float away.
In the swamp, the baby cries and Swamp Thing discovers that it's washed ashore.
Arcane's assistant Graham tries to tell Arcane about the baby, and Arcane tells him to honor it or take the consequences. Arcane then takes an elevator to a subbasement in his facility and puts a rose on a tank holding a woman, Tatiana. He says that it's been ten years since she married him, and she injected Arcane's duplicate of the bio-restorative formula into herself to prove her love for him. Arcane admits that it wasn't ready, and since then he has been trying to find the key to bring her back. He explains that he's been asked to continue the work on Woodrue's transformation, and figures that he can prove that he's superior to Woodrue. Graham comes in and says that General Sunderland is there.
Arcane meets with Sunderland via computer and assures the general that he's destroyed of all of Woodrue's work in an "accident." Sunderland wishes Arcane a happy anniversary and signs off.
The next day, Tressa is putting up a sign for her new business, Kipp's Boat Rentals & Swamp Tours. Will and Abigail arrive and Will has called ahead to arrange for Abigail to stay there. Tressa notices that Will has loaned Abigail some clothing, and assures her that she's welcome to stay as long as she wants.
That night, Swamp Thing signals Will to come to him. Will finds him and Swamp Thing gives him the baby, saying that it's dying. The creature walks off and Will takes the baby back to the house. They call in Dr. Hollister, who says that as far as he can tell, the baby had bad blood. Hollister calls for a medvac and says that they may be out of time.
Graham tells Arcane about the medvac request, and Arcane tells him to get the baby.
Abigail goes out on the porch to hold the baby and sing to it. She sees the tag on its leg, just as Graham and his man Keifer arrive and take the baby. She tells Will, who discovers that the intruders have pulled the fuel line on the boat. Tressa goes to get some gas, and Abigail tells Will about the tag. She explains that she grew up alone in a government house except for watchers, teachers, and Dr. Woodrue. Abigail admits that she's a test tube baby, and they made her with synthetic DNA. A few days ago they cleared everything out--including Abigail--and put it on a boat. Abigail figures that they were throwing her away, and Woodrue always said that he was disappointed in the way she turned out. There were rooms that Abigail wasn't allowed in, and she never saw the baby. She warns that there's nothing anyone can do for the baby.
Graham and Keifer head back to the facility by boat, and the engine chokes when they hit some swamp grass. Swamp Thing hears them and grabs Keifer when he gets in the water to check the rudder. He entangles the rotor and shrugs off Graham's bullets, and then throws Graham into the water. Swamp Thing then picks up the baby and comforts it, and sets it down in a grove in the swamp before departing.
At the facility, Swamp Thing takes out a guard and sneaks in. He confronts Arcane, who says that he creates life and is concerned with immediate results. Arcane realizes that the baby is dying and says that he can't cure it. Swamp Thing says that he hasn't killed Arcane because he doesn't want to become like him, and demands to know what will save the baby. Arcane says that the hydrocitic acid in the tanks can cure it, but it must be carefully bioprocessed through protein masks. The technology isn't available, but Swamp Thing drives his hand into the tanks as Arcane runs.
Later, Swamp Thing returns the baby to Will and gives him the cure as well: a pomegranate. The amino acid in the seeds will save the baby. Will takes the baby and the pomegranate back to the house, cuts open the fruit, and drips the liquid from the seed into the baby's mouth. Abigail realizes that it will work and that's why she likes pomegranates. The baby recovers before Tressa can call Hollister.
The next day, Abigail adjusts the sign. The baby's foster parents arrive and Tressa goes to meet them. Abigail stalls and finally tells Will that she's always had a dream of her parents coming to pick her up and take her home. Will invites her to meet her dream, and after a moment Abigail goes with him.
Written by Gadfly on Jul 5, 2017