Craig wasn't equipped to handle this. This was all too much to handle in less than twenty-four hours anyway. He couldn't run from this, as much as he wanted to. He was experiencing a chilling wave of emotions now that he was more whole. He was feeling ashamed because of what Rick had done, aside from downright scared of all the horrible memories flooding his head. He was regretting ever forgetting or even entertaining company with that horrible…
Even as skinny as he was, shoving himself inside of an air duct may not have been the most intelligent decision. He knocked off his glasses trying to get inside and he was pretty stuck now. Better to think like this, he figured; he was feeling more conflicted about everything he had been and more. His better sense was telling him not to stray too far from Rick now that they both had their memories back. As much as Craig never wanted to see him again, they needed each other to get out of the facility. Craig wasn't sure why he wanted to leave anymore; there wasn't anything waiting for him. Even hundreds of years earlier, it wouldn't have made a difference.
He pulled his knees up to his chest, further situating himself in the air duct without escape. He just wanted to curl up and die now. Why did Rick have to do that? They were doing just fine as friends and now he had to go and… and… Craig wasn't even sure what Rick was trying to accomplish by… that. His memories caught up with his physical responses and he finally remembered that he was so afraid of physical contact because his father was abusive. Craig couldn't remember for the life of him why his father hit him, but it didn't matter. It made him jumpy when people touched him and he'd managed to avoid any sexual contact just to stave off revulsion. Now that Craig thought about it, he'd never given it a try… but when Rick… It dawned on Craig that Rick had gotten physical with him and even kissed him and Craig hadn't found it revolting. The only emotion he remembered feeling was disappointment and hurt; not anything near feeling disgusted.
Because of what he had gone through, he hadn't bothered making friends. He'd so desperately and single-mindedly strove for his father's approval, by the time he realized his father wasn't going to accept him, he had already received an offer at Aperture Science. Craig reflected on his lonely and awkward existence in the laboratory. He knew of Rick before they formally met; Craig had been told all kinds of stories of how Rick the star test-subject had been… less than friendly to all of the scientists in the lab and out. Craig was expecting to fight with him a lot and possibly that one or both of them would get killed. He didn't care much at that point; he'd already resigned his fate to being alone and forgotten until he died. After he and Rick were introduced as testing partners, fighting had ensued: fighting like cats and dogs, but they always managed to get to the end of the test in once piece. Craig hadn't recalled seeing the ends of tests, they argued so much. Once both of them had a cool head, Rick's obtrusive behavior made it hard for Craig to scurry away and go read, as he liked. He was a horrible braggart, but he wasn't horrible company. Getting Craig to laugh was a memory that Rick tossed around like a trophy and Craig knew it was really something rare, so he just let him. That idiot grew on him eventually, though they continued to fight like an old married couple.
Testing went well, so well that all the scientists were baffled why. Suddenly, the two of them were first in line to be put in suspended animation. They weren't allowed to ask why, but they continued testing, as per company regulations. It took a bit of time before things got really honestly tense between the two of them; Craig couldn't have pinpointed the exact time. Tension escalated until Craig finally got up the nerve to ask what was wrong and Rick went off on him, throwing around epithets and dirty rumors until they got into a real argument. It wasn't poking fun at one another, it wasn't stressed testing arguments; it was a knock-down drag-out fight that Craig recalled wishing would turn physical, just for some kind of outlet. It hadn't and after that fight, they were put into their stasis machines and they hadn't spoken since.
This was again, too much. Craig leaned his head against the cool metal of the air duct and sighed heavily. He had a second chance at living and things weren't any fairer than they had been before. Now instead of stuck with a dead-end job with no prospect of escape… he was stuck in a dead-end that might end up killing him permanently this time. On top of that depressing aspect, Rick had gotten so cruel as to tease him physically instead of verbally. Just how much of a laugh would he expect to get with no one else around?
Craig felt something roughly grab his ankles and pull him out of the air duct without much effort. Craig automatically screwed his eyes shut, half with pain from his shoulders and half with the anticipation that he might get a fist to the face. There was some labored breathing, but no fists. Craig cautiously opened one eye to the sight of his glasses being offered to him. He timidly took them and put them on his face. The glass had a neat crack down the middle of the left lens, but he could see Rick's tired and annoyed expression perfectly well. He was standing over the newly-extracted Craig, whose back was against the floor; he was helplessly at Rick's mercy. He just had to hope Rick wasn't going to be too rough on him; they still had to get out.