The prison escape…if you could call it that was a quick blur and before he knew it, he was walking through a portal into the garage. To his surprise they left the portal gun in the bag. The federation had demanded the portal gun countless times for testing to learn how he could create a handheld portal device that could switch dimensions. The closest they could get was an extremely large stationary object that could transport you. When he was questioned in the past, he would spit at them and tell them he doesn't make things for just functionality but also for looks. Then he would suggest they do the same then stick it up their asses.

He threw the bag with the items he was given on his work bench, and started rummaging through a box until he found his alcohol stash. Luckily, it looked like Beth and Jerry left his stuff alone. If he believed in miracles, this was one of them. Normally, he couldn't go a day without one of them coming in to grab or touch something…or worse, to talk to him. So it was a miracle that nothing was moved or misplaced after his disappearance for three weeks.

Rick sat back in his spinning chair, chugging the beverage. Then he went over to the bench. He was fumbling through the bag until he found his clothes. After another gulp, he changed out of the orange attire he was in and into his usual khakis and blue long sleeve. Then his lab coat that fit loosely over him. He felt much more dressed now that he had his typical attire on.

He took another gulp of his drink.

Rick then noticed a picture at the bottom of the bag, it was one of the shots of Morty in wherever he was. Rick took another gulp of his drink then scoffed at it, tearing it up and throwing it in the trash.

He was never fond of Morty's lifestyle. The kid got the world handed to him on a silver platter. His naïve nature could easily be brought back to the fact that he was coddled his whole life. This new trial in his life would do him good; he needed to learn that life wasn't roses. Rick tried endlessly to teach him not to trust anyone and yet the kid trusted Rick with his own life...this would teach him that lesson. While Rick had to learn life's harshest lessons on his own, Morty was just easing through life. He even went as far to claim a mental problem and anxiety which made Rick scoff even more at the child. How could he have anxiety if all he did was go to school? High school was the easy part, life was hard. Rick knew that and it was time that Morty learned it as well. Yes, the reasoning was terrible, but he needed a way to sort out the fact that he was planning on leaving this dimension. He needed to sort in his head a reason why he was okay with leaving.

Without thinking, he took another gulp from his drink.

He then went for his computer and started typing in exact scenarios he needed so he could dimension hop.

He started typing in specifics,
'Rick deceased within two hours'
'Morty does not know of the Rick's death'…he didn't want to be questioned.
'No federation involvement'

Rick was about to hit send when a picture of himself and Morty caught his eye. Beth took the photo while the two were in the garage. She had asked for the twos attention and told them to smile. Rick stared at himself in the photo, a smile spread across the Rick in the photograph's face that he hadn't seen in years. Morty next to him waving at the camera with that dumb naïve smile he hated. Morty later taped the picture onto the monitor four days before the two were caught. He remembered walking into the garage to see Morty proud as a peacock that he was able to set this picture on Rick's monitor without him knowing.

"Like you said Rick, we're the only friends we got!" Morty smiled up at Rick. To which Rick never replied back, just went to his work. Rick was hammered when he said that, flat out wasted when he gave Morty some dumb friend speech that somehow Morty remembered so fondly.

Rick stared at the send button, took a gulp of his drink, then looked back at the picture, then gulped his drink.

To his chagrin, the bottle was empty. He slammed it to the ground, watching it shatter on the garage floor.

The door to the garage slowly opened, then he heard a voice, "Dad? Is that you?"

Rick wasn't ready for this, he needed another bottle. "Ye-yeah." He was able to say.

Beth leaned against the door staring into the dark garage, it was then that Rick realized he never turned on a light. The soft glow from the inventions he left here and his now lit up computer were the only things lighting the room before that door was open.

"Is Moooorty wiiith you?" she asked slurring her words.

"No." He walked over to his box, grabbing another drink.

"I was wo-worried that something haaappened to you…or worse…you ran off." Beth said while Rick pulled another homemade whiskey bottle from the box.

"Still here." Rick said opening the bottle then making his way to the computer.

"Yeah, I see that. Where's Morty?"

Rick was silent as he stared at the computer, it wasn't too late, he could run off. He should run off. Helping the federation was the last thing he should be doing.

"Where-where's Morty?" Beth asked again. Had she been drinking since his disappearance?

He brought his mouse to the shut down key, shutting down his computer.

"You know what sweetie. He's over a friend's house. Just having fun. I-I'm going to go get him." Rick said walking his daughter out of the garage. Why did he just lie to her? He was past lying unless if it was convenient for him. He had decided long ago if it didn't convenience him, then he would never lie even if the truth hurt.

Beth tried to stop when they were almost past the kitchen, "Wait." She almost fell making Rick have to catch her. "He's been at a friend's house this whole time and wouldn't call?"

"Yeah well he is a teenager, you know teenagers. Gotta have your independence at times. I'll talk to him about it when I go get him."

By now Rick had her upstairs. He helped his daughter into bed. "Okay dad, I trust you." She said as she laid down.

"Good night." She said as a sniffle came from her. Truth was she didn't believe him, but she was afraid of the truth so she would take his lie. Sometimes a lie was worth believing than hearing the truth.

Rick never said anything to her, he just shut the door.

To his surprise it was one in the afternoon.

He went back down to the garage, closing the door behind him so he could start figuring out what he needed. No one stole from Rick Sanchez, and he would teach this person who had Morty that lesson.

Rick walked over to the shelf sorting through until he found his gps device. All Ricks had one, however, they were able to make it where it only locked onto one device, the device they would surgically implant into their own Mortys. That way, a Rick could find his Morty and not find someone else's Morty. He was about to turn it on when he remembered Corkander, "He has a way of tracking if anything that uses GPS is in his lab."

"Fuck, making this real hard Morty." Rick muttered.

He then found his device that was able to pick up on any Morty's and Rick's brainwaves within ten feet of it. He started tinkering with it until he had what he wanted. A way to track any Morty's brainwaves within a light-year. It would still take forever to scour the universe but he could do it. Then he jumped into the ship. It wouldn't take long.

Losing track of time was always something Rick could do when his mind was focused on one thing. Within the last seven days, he had found five Mortys who dimension hopped into his dimension with their Ricks for one reason or another, but none of them was his Morty. Rick was currently in a bar not knowing where else to turn. He would forget to eat, leaving his stomach practically eating itself before he would stop.

Could he really go another who knows how long on a giant ass universe searching for one person. It was worse than the proverbial needle in a haystack. Then if he was correct on who he thought had Morty, that person could potentially be from another dimension who also knows how to hop around.

"I gave you a week to be free Sanchez, now it's time we start working together."

Rick looked behind him to see Corkander standing behind him

"With every offense possible, I don't want to work with you Cockander." Rick said.

"It's Corkander, Mr. Sanchez." The woman said.

"It's Rick, COCKander."

"Okay, so are you ready to work with us so we can figure this out? Or are you going to continue a dumb cat and mouse game that we have already been playing with the Professor. It's time instead of chasing the mouse, we poison it."

"Are you talking about killing him?" Rick asked. "Seems unethical to me. I don't think federation is typically unethical."

"Not literally Mr. Sanchez. More play our cards so we can do more. You could do so much more if you put your smarts to something good."

"Good is just a word that beings made up to give them a reason to live."

Corkander set a phone on the bar, "it's time to keep the contract up. You need to make the call. This phone has his number that he gives when he needs something."

Rick glared at her, he hated being told what to do.

"Go ahead Rick, make the call and let me know what you need."

Rick grabbed the phone harshly then walked away with it.

Morty was cleaning a centrifuge down after one of the tests went haywire leaving a mess everywhere. The phone rang in the main room. He had never heard it ring before. At one point, Morty had wondered if it even worked, a few days ago he almost attempted to call Rick before one of the guards had walked in making Morty leave the phone alone.

Morty looked around, no one was around to answer it. He debated back and forth on whether he should answer before the professor walked in, taking the phone off the receiver.

The professor looked at it skeptically before answering, "Hello?"

Morty watched the man's face falter for a second before looking at the teen. "Yes this is he…." He waited, "You don't say. How you doing? It's been awhile since I heard from you!" the man walked out of the room.

Morty went back to his work at hand.

Rick was glaring at Corkander as he spoke on the phone, "Yeah, like thirty years or something since I last saw you right?"

"What brings you back here?"

"You know, looking to make some money." Rick said, "I've been told you are always looking for something new. What ya looking for Paul? I can help ya."

"You know I hated that name back then, still hate it."

"It's your name, so what ya need?"

"We haven't talked in so long and you suddenly call and want to help me?"

"I need the money. So what item ya need?" Rick asked.

"What I need is a living being, not an item."

Rick stayed quiet. "What living being?"

"Do you remember Lucy?"

"The algurien." Rick said. "The reason for your experiments."

"Yeah, she sadly left me. Said I wasn't spending enough time with her. Guess I'm like you in more ways than one, we're both married to science first. I'm close to the end of my experiment. So I'm ready for a female algurien to further my trials."

"Okay." Rick was silent. He never actually kidnapped someone. He looked up at Corkander who waited impatiently. She set up a pen and paper mouthing the words, 'what does he want?'

Rick wrote down, 'algurien.'

Corkander wrote on the paper, 'Give us a week.'

"You know Paul, give me a week and we-I will get you that algurien."

"Great, I'll give you a thousand for it."

"Fifteen hundred."

The man smiled, "Twelve fifty"

"Okay. Deal."

"Deal."

Rick hung up.

"You knew his name all along? When were you going to tell me?" Corkander asked.

"Yeah, I knew him as Paul when we went to college together. What of it?"

"You don't have a degree."

"I only stayed for a semester. Paul stayed until he got his stupid Ph.D. That idiot spent his whole twenties in college."

"Anything else that you are keeping from me?"

"Nah, don't think so." Rick said scratching his now then grabbing his flask, "Now you better go get started on finding that algurien. You know what they say, two wrongs make a right. Am I right?"

Corkander did not find that as amusing as Rick did.

Morty done cleaning when the professor walked back into he room, setting the phone on the receiver. The professor was smiling from ear to ear.

"Eighty two." He said. Morty looked up the professor. "We are going to have so much fun with this one!"

Morty was about to ask questions but chose not too, it was easier to not ask questions.