Two days past before Rick talked to Morty again. It wasn't that he hadn't tried. It was that Morty kept avoiding him for some reason. When they'd pass in the kitchen or the living room, Morty would quickly disappear into another room. He got the feeling that Morty needed the space so he didn't push it but he couldn't say he wasn't worried. He knew they hadn't exactly ended on good terms the other day but he didn't think it had gone that badly.

He got his chance to talk to Morty one day after dinner. They were sitting at the dining room table eating with the rest of the family. Summer was texting on her phone while Morty pushed around his food with his fork. Suddenly, Jerry cleared his throat and everyone looked up expectantly, except Rick who ignored the man as he took a sip from his flask and burped loudly.

"Soooo… Morty." He began, catching Rick's attention. Rick squinted his eyes at the man and glanced over at Beth who had a stricken look on her face. "What are your plans?" Jerry finally finished. Morty looked at him with a confused expression on his face. "My plans?" he asked quizzically and Jerry glanced at Beth before clearing his throat and pushing on. "Well I mean…you've been graduated for a year. Don't you think…maybe you should try to get a job?"

"Jerry!" Beth interjected and Jerry threw his hands up defensively.

"What? Summer has a job and she might be moving out soon!" he exclaimed and Summer rolled her eyes at him. "Don't drag me into this Dad." She said and continued texting on her phone. "Jerry he's not ready for a job!" Beth exclaimed and Rick could tell the argument was steadily escalating out of control. "The boy's eighteen, Beth. He needs to figure out what he wants to do-." Jerry began but was interrupted by Morty clearing his throat. Everyone went silent and looked up at him. Morty stood up and pushed his chair away from the table.

"I'll start applying." He said simply and grabbed his plate full of uneaten food to take to the kitchen. "Morty wait! You don't have to-." Beth began but Morty cut her off once again. "It's fine mom. He's right." He replied and then left the room. Everyone turned their eyes back on Jerry and he looked between all of them. "What?" he said defensively and Beth sighed in frustration. "I told you not to bring this up Jerry. Morty's not ready to go back out there. He's too-too fragile!" she said and this time it was Rick's turn to get angry. He slammed his flask down on the table and stood abruptly. "He's not a- not a damn doll Beth. Don't underestimate him." He growled before storming out of the dining room and into the garage.

It was rare for him to get upset with Beth but she had really pissed him off when she talked of Morty so lowly. She probably didn't even know she was doing anything wrong but Rick knew. He knew how much those words would eat at Morty if he had heard them and he was beginning to understand why the boy thought Rick pitied him so much. It was because of the example that the rest of the family was leading but Rick knew more than anyone that Morty was far from weak or fragile.

Suddenly, he thought back to the moment when he finally tracked down Morty's location. When he burst down the door to the facility that Morty had been kept at for two weeks he was shocked to find most of the guards already dead. He followed the trail of bodies to a closet and when he opened the door a bullet whizzed past him, missing Ricks head by an inch and lodging itself in the wall behind him. He froze and looked down to find Morty curled up in a ball in the corner with a pistol pointed at his head. He was almost unrecognizable with a dark bruise taking up half his face and blood covering him from head to toe. His clothes had been torn to shreds. Dark red bruises and fresh wounds peaked out from beneath his clothes. He starred at Rick with a haze in his eye's that said, "take one more step and I'll kill you where you stand."

"Morty…" He whispered and suddenly the haze disappeared from the boy's eye's and was replaced with recognition. "Ri-Rick?" he whispered back and then launched himself forward and into Rick's chest. "Rick! I-I knew you'd come! I-I kept telling them you would!" he sobbed loudly and Rick wrapped his arms around him gently. At that moment, he felt the last shred of his resolve and adrenaline dissolve out of his body and he collapsed backward, pulling Morty with him. He was just so relieved to finally be reunited but underneath all the excitement of having Morty back in his arms was the absolute horror he felt at his appearance. He wasn't quite sure what he had been expecting but nothing could have prepared him for this and he knew in his heart that he would probably discover a lot more about what had taken place later.

Rick was pulled out of his revere by a loud beeping from his watch and he was reminded that there were things he needed to do but the memory served to remind him of one thing. Morty Smith was far from weak. He may have been damaged during his time at the facility, but Rick knew for certain that he had gone down fighting.

Morty pressed himself against the wall in the kitchen and took a deep breath, still holding his dinner plate in his hand. "I told you not to bring this up, Jerry! He's not ready to go back out there. He's too fragile!" he heard his mom exclaim and his heart dropped. He knew they thought he was weak but every time he heard it said it broke him apart a little more. He froze when he heard a slam on the table then Ricks voice. "He's not a damn doll Beth. Don't underestimate him." He heard Rick growl before the man stormed off to the garage. Morty felt warmth spread to his face. He hadn't been expecting Rick to defend him so violently and he suddenly felt guilty. He'd been avoiding Rick for the past two days in fear of confrontation but he knew now that he owed the man at least a bit of his time. So after he'd spent an hour or so in his room, applying to whatever random jobs were hiring on his phone, he made his way back down to the garage.

When he entered the room, it was dark outside and Rick was nowhere to be seen but Morty could guess that the old man was in his room, so he made his way to the side panel of the wall and called out. "Hey Rick…You in there." There was a moment of silence and then Morty heard footsteps. Suddenly, the wall slid open to reveal Rick leaning against the door frame. His mouth almost fell open when he saw that Rick was wearing nothing but his boxers, a white tank top and a robe that hung loosely on his frame. He had never seen Rick in his pajamas and he couldn't help but stare awkwardly.

"What's up?" Rick asked and eyed Morty curiously. Morty suddenly realized he had no real reason for coming down to the garage and he blushed lightly, willing his hammering heart to slow down in his chest. "Uh…I just wanted to see what you were up to?" he muttered and Rick starred at him for a moment before cracking a smile. "Come on." He said and beckoned Morty into his room as he turned away. Morty hesitated for a moment before swallowing and following the man in. He wasn't gonna think about how nice Rick looked so relaxed or how much of his skin was showing. What a-am I? A fuck-fucking school girl? He thought to himself and shook his head.

Rick made his way over to the recliner in the corner and sat down before continuing to read over some blueprints. Morty took the chance to subtly examine Rick's room, now that he was awake to see it. There wasn't much as far as furniture goes but Morty realized there were various photographs of people as well as different blueprints tacked all around the walls. His eye's trained onto one picture in particular and he couldn't help but gawk at the site of a younger Rick wearing a black tank top that said, "The Flesh Curtains" in red ink on it. He was wearing a black choker and had his arm slung around someone that Morty quickly recognized as Birdperson. Morty couldn't stifle the slight snicker that escaped him and suddenly Rick looked up from his blueprints to stare at him. "What are you lo-looking at? You nosy bas-bastard." He joked and stood up to see what Morty was so interested in. When he saw the picture that Morty was looking at his smile faltered slightly and he reached out to pull it off the wall. For a moment, he starred at it in silence before smiling and handing it to Morty.

"I used to be in a band with Birdperson and Squanchy." He explained and there was a faraway look in his eye's as if he were reliving it. "It was called, The Flesh Curtains." He laughed and shook his head. Morty starred at him for a moment before looking back down at the photo. Rick looked so happy in the picture and Morty couldn't help but wonder what had happened to him to make him the man that he was today. "Do you miss him?" he asked quietly and Rick froze, starring at the wall. He was silent for a second before looking back over at Morty. "Sometimes." He replied simply and then looked away. Morty decided to drop the subject and tacked the picture back onto the wall. Rick cleared his throat suddenly and Morty looked up at him expectantly.

"So…have you applied for anything yet?" he asked and it took Morty a second to realize what he was talking about. "Oh yeah…McDonald's is hiring if you're interested." He joked, intending to make Rick laugh, but the man just stared at him. "What?" he asked and Rick looked away. "I-I know somewhere that's hiring- if you're up for it that is?" he stammered and Morty squinted his eyes suspiciously. Why was Rick being so weird? "Where?" he asked and Rick paused for a long moment before looking back at Morty with a sudden look of resolve on his face. "Here." He said and it only served to make Morty more confused. "Wha-What do you mean?" he stuttered and Rick moved to sit back in his chair. He clasped his hands together and starred straight at Morty.

"I need an assistant."