How about that season finale, huh? Such a tearjerker! And another year and a half to wait for more episodes? How can we deal with that sort of delay? In the meantime I hope my Fic will be one way for people to get in their healthy dose of Rick and Morty! And now before you delve into the chapter I only have one thing to say: FREE RICK!

Enjoy! :D

Cool, stagnant water from puddles that littered the filthy stone floor splashed upon her dirty feet and soaked the ends of her tattered cargo pants as she ran through them towards the closed steel door at the far end of the corridor. This was it. Her last chance. And if it played out the way she hoped, the way she had planned it, everything should be fine. Running into the two extra variables in the Coovi's fortress had only been a plus. Three people were better than one; which is what she had been, that is, before the Coovi's had interrupted her heist and captured her. Dammit. Cora had been right all along and it physically pained her to admit it. But it was only a minor setback. This time would be better. She knew what to do differently now and it would make all the difference. She just hoped this new variable that was with her was a decent and cooperative shot.

"Hey! W-w-wait up!" Rick called from behind, his voice echoing throughout the hall pulling her from her troubling thoughts. As she neared the black, steel door her footsteps slowed, and she turned, giving Rick her full attention. His narrow hips were stuck in the opening of the cell door but after a few heaves Rick finally pulled himself free. He was somewhat wobbly on his feet at first, his knees shaking and buckling, and he drunkenly fell against the wall. She watched, unblinking, as he took a breather using the wall to hold himself up. Then, after a moment, he regained his balance and straightened up. Rick dusted himself off, though it did no good for his shirt was a muddy and bloody mess already, and acted as though nothing were amiss. He blinked once then looked forward, their eyes locking together. "Well, what now? Where's Morty?"

"In due time," she said simply. With a smile, she turned around to face the locked and imposing door in front of her. Not wanting to waste any more time she quickly reached up into her hair and fished out the two small bobby pins. Once found, she looped them together and pulled. With the standard loud pop and bright flash of light the two items she held between her fingers morphed before her eyes and into the black blade she now held in her hands. Her smile widened. That never got old. Rick's footsteps were fast approaching from behind but she paid them no mind and bent down, facing the first task at hand: cutting away the hinges.

"W-where do you expect to go once you've opened the door?" Rick questioned once he was by her side. As the second hinge fell to the ground with a loud thud she blew out a puff of air and pushed some hair off of her sticky, sweaty face. Putting a knee on the ground she turned slightly to stare up at the imposing figure by her side. Rick was leaning back against the stone wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His brow was arched in suspicion and he held a sardonic look upon his face. It instantly put a bad taste in her mouth and a weird feeling in her gut. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to keep him alive. Even though he had traveled here with his grandson, who had seemed to be a harmless little teenage boy, that didn't mean this man before her could be any less menacing than the Ickleflorps had been on Planet Blakawood. Those devils fed their offspring to the worms just for the fun of it. She shuttered remembering those poor helpless striplings as they attempted to battle for their lives and had ultimately lost. Blinking, she stared up at the man before her, dismissing the horrible memories. If it came down to it she would put a blade through his heart. Yes, she did need the extra help for when she sought after the Coovi's most prized possession again but not at the cost of having to look over her shoulder every five seconds to make sure her companion wasn't about to murder her and leave her behind. She would escape with or without Mister Rick Sanchez in tow and with Morty, of course. Oh, Morty. The poor boy. He had been a sniveling, crying mess when she had ran into him in the upper level dungeons of the citadel. After talking for a brief minute she had learned a great deal about Morty Smith and Rick Sanchez, his great and brilliant grandfather. The boy rambled on and cried all the while, begging for help to free him and to find his grandpa. Damn kids. In all honesty, Morty had better be glad he was a poor an innocent child; if not she highly doubted she would have stopped by his cell in the first place. But alas, a terrible tragedy had forever branded children as sacred in her eyes and she would never, ever leave a child that was in trouble behind. If it could be helped. And for this reason she had agreed to go find this mysterious Rick Sanchez first. She would never dream of dragging Morty around this large labyrinth-like place with her, blindly searching. It had ultimately been pure luck when she had awoken in the cell with none other than the man she had planned on looking for; after she had retrieved what she had come for in the first place, that is. As much as she might grow to regret it, she had kept the child's grandfather alive. For Morty. She stared up at his hardened features. Rick did look as if he liked to cause trouble and with what she had planned that was not going to be good. But, unless it came down to dire circumstances, she would keep Rick Sanchez breathing.

"Well," she began, standing, and making sure she held out the blade between them with purpose. She wasn't about to let her guard down. "We're going to locate our items and then you and I are going to head down to the Great Fenbeni' Hall."

"For what?!" he questioned loudly.

"Shhh…" she said, jumping up quickly and placing a hand over his mouth before she could even think clearly. What was she doing? The two stared at each other in silence. She blinked and then untangled herself from him, removing her hand from over his lips. "Sorry," she whispered as she turned back to the hinges, using her hair as a shield to hide the growing blush upon her face. "I need to retrieve something the Coovi's have, then we'll go find your grandson."

A hard and awkward silence fell between the two as she kept working on the rest of hinges; silently thankful she had something to do to keep her hands busy. Right before the last hinge fell to the ground, Rick moved by her side and placed his hands flat against the door, helping hold it in an upright position. She gave him small smile and then quickly transformed the black blade back into the two small bobby pins and plucked them back into her thick tendrils. She then placed her hands upon the cool surface of the door, a wide smile spreading across her face as a rush of adrenaline pumped through her veins. It was almost show time!

She stared up at the man next to her. "You ready?" she questioned. He only nodded once, his brow knitting together in hard concentration. In tedium, as if the two had done this multiple times before, they carefully and silently laid down the heavy door upon the dusty floor without a sound. She pulled her usual golden blade out from her belt loop and stared up at Rick. With a determined look on her face she nodded in his direction and then, swiftly and quietly, exited the dungeon.

XxX

Rick followed quietly behind her, putting what little trust he had in the stranger. He hoped silently she hadn't been lying when she said she knew where to find Morty. Lord help her if she was. Rick was only bidding his time until he could figure out a way to gain control over her. He hadn't found his outing just yet but soon he knew he would. Rick complied and followed behind her silently down the brightly lit hallway. The large florescent lights and white painted walls resembled more of a hospital rather than a massive bastion for large alien slugs. The slate gray tile helped mask their footsteps as the two made their way down a long, narrow hall. There were no windows and the few doors the two did pass held nothing for invitation. He just hoped she knew exactly where she was going and what she was doing. It wouldn't be the first time he had been led blindly somewhere by a complete idiot and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Morty was his grandson after all…

After a few lefts and rights, the woman stopped in front of yet another generic looking door. She looked back up and down the hallway as if making sure they were still alone then she reached up into her hair and pulled out the same two signature bobby pins. Once they morphed into the useful solid black knife, she quickly jammed it into the keyhole. She grunted as she struggled to twist it to the left and after a few heaves the door clicked softly and swung open creakily. They were greeted with what looked to be a small storage room. It was almost as atrocious as the cell down in the dungeon. Foreign items littered the shelves that were stacked against the wall, which had something green and orange growing on it; some things swirled around in jars while bits and pieces of old ray guns lay shattered and covered in a thick layer of dust. Without hesitation the woman trudged forward and began digging around through the mess. When Rick didn't follow suit she stopped her rummaging and blinked, giving him her full attention.

"C'mon your things might be in here." She straightened and jerked the knife out of the doorknob, then with her free hand she grabbed Rick's unsliced wrist and pulled him into the small storage room alongside her, closing the door behind them. "Now," she began as she flicked on a light, "let's hurry. We don't have much time."

"W-wait just a minute here," Rick stated as he stared down at the back of the woman as she began picking through the mess again. "Let me get this straight…" She stopped and turned, staring up at him with her round doe eyes. "What are you here for? Why did the… err….Who are you really working for?" Rick placed his hands on his hips and bent down slightly. Something wasn't quite right. If she wasn't working for the Coovi's then who could she be working for? Randomly saving him and taking him to his grandson as well? Very odd. Rarely did Rick come into contact with helpful beings. Like Rick, most aliens were the 'kill now and ask questions later' type. He was curious of her and her actions and of her origins, and he definitely wasn't going to let his guard down in front of her, no matter how level headed she seemed. The best killers were almost always the most composed.

Instead of a large rebuttal Rick had expected to receive, he was pleasantly surprised when she smiled brightly again and said, "I'll explain everything once we've reached Destiny."

"Destiny…?"

She nodded once before returning back to the filthy items upon the shelves. "Uh-huh. It's my ship. I parked her forty clicks north of here and if I can find my transmitter… AH HA!" With a flat green box in hand the small woman before him jumped up quickly and gave him a brief hug around the waist then begin to bounce around the small confides happily. "With this," she said, turning to Rick to show him what she had in hand, "we can defiantly escape!"

So she had a mode of transportation... good. But Rick was slightly troubled as he watched her open the small box in hand. How could he trust this stranger to get him off of this planet? A woman at that, no less. He eyed her skeptically. If she began breaking down, or better yet, when she broke down he would defiantly be taking that small little green box from her and, with Morty at his side, escape this vile planet without her. He would not let a woman slow him down. She found some boots that had been stacked in the corner and began slipping them on. It was then he let his guard down slightly and followed suit, rummaging through the pile of useless old junk. Unfortunately his flask, lab coat or small laser gun was nowhere to be found but Rick did manage to come across a larger ray gun, broken of course, and some tools. He quickly toiled his fingers as he reworked the gun's circuitry within. After a few moments Rick tightened up the last screw and tossed the screwdriver on the floor. He held the gun out in front of him, inspecting it, unsure of how effective it would be. He tossed it from his left to right hand adjusting to its weight then, without warning, Rick pointed the gun at the corner of the room and pulled the trigger. The orange blast that shot from the barrel instantly disintegrated a rickety shelve, part of the wall, and the only light source the small room permitted, leaving a billowing cloud of brown smoke in its wake. From the other room light filtered through the large, gaping hole in the wall, shining upon the woman's face as she sat in the floor staring up at Rick with a foul look in her eye.

"WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK!?" she shouted, jumping up from the sitting position she'd been in. Rick just shrugged slightly and tucked the gun into his back pocket quite satisfied with the damage.

"Relax… Listen," he said, holding up his hands before him. Rick leaned over toward the door and pressed an ear up against it. "I don't think any one's the wiser out there." As he turned back around to face the woman he was quickly knocked back and pinned up against the wall; the palm of her hand connecting with his cheek.

"Don't you ever, EVER do that again! Not now! Not EVER! Unless we need it... I swear… If we get caught now after everything…!" Her voice trailed off, her features beet red from anger. She paced in circles grumbling to herself as she fumed. Rick laughed and by the death stare she shot over at him it had been another wrong move on his part. The woman reared back, her hand up in the air in another attempt to connect with his cheek, but this time Rick was faster and caught her by the arm. He pulled her to him, their chests touching. He smirked down at her, making sure he had her complete attention before speaking again.

"How about we make one thing clear," his voice was menacing, smooth and evil as he spoke softly in the darkness; his breath hot upon her cheeks. "The next time you lay a hand on me it will be your last. Understand…?"

She stared up at him, small tears staining her emerald eyes. Just when he was about to let her go he was quickly taken by surprise when the woman's face twisted from fear to cruel in less than a second. In the blink of an eye the woman spun around to the right until she was behind him, subduing him again with his wrist pushed up against his back. She was a stout being and Rick lifted up his leg about to kick her in the shins but he was forced to put his foot back down on the ground when he felt the tip end of a blade pierce through his sweater and into the skin of his back.

"I thought we had an understanding, Mr. Sanchez," she said coyly. Rick sighed and hung his head. For the first time in a long time he actually felt his age. He needed to get off this planet and regroup. No one ever took cheap shots at him and lived to tell the tale. But this woman. This… enigma, she had subdued him more than once. He silently wished he was back in his prime. He would have already eliminated the threat before she had even woke in the cell. And at this moment in time, against his better judgement, Rick gave in and relaxed against her. As of right now he knew he was in no shape to do much but to follow her orders. He had to trust she knew where Morty was and that was harder said than done. "Good. Very good," she purred behind him. Her voice held a slight smile with her words and after a moment she let him go, releasing the grasp she had upon his wrist and removing the blade from his back. "Got everything you need?" she questioned as she walked slowly around him to stand right in front of him.

"Er…." Rick lifted the gun from his pocket, aiming it at her as a merciless smile spread across his face. Instead of her cowering from him in fear, as he had expected, she only laughed.

"C'mon Mr. Sanchez, we have places to be." With that she reached for the door, cracking it open to peer out into the hall.

"Who are you?" he asked, the question blurting form his lips before he could censor it.

She turned to stare back at him, the elated smile still plastered upon her bloodied face. "Ivanka. My name is Ivanka. But you can call me Iva'." With a wink she turned her attention back to the door and pulled it opened slowly. She was out before Rick could even respond.

Note: I'm not sure if anyone needs this information but just a little FYI -Iva is pronounced like Eva-

Until next time...