Something that had been on Julie's mind since befriending Rick, was the mystery sounding him. During the few days he had lived with her, he had always remained very secretive, and even after leaving, it was still the same way. Julie liked him, he was her friend after all, but she longed to know more about him. At the same time, Julie respected his space, and let him have it, but his secretive nature still bothered her.

To deal with this, she decided to talk to her two best friends: Mark Norris and Vivian Curtis. She had known both for years, Vivian since they were babies, and Mark since they were teenagers. She had could talk to them about almost anything, this included.

So, one day she went over to visit Mark at his apartment, and invited Vivian over. They would have to deal with Mark's annoying roommate Johnny, but other than that, she figured things would go over smoothly.

"My new friend, Rick, is such a mystery, he always tends to hide things from me. When I met him, he was coming out of a portal and had been shot, holding a crystal-like fuel source. I had asked him why he'd been shot and why he wouldn't let me take him to the hospital, he was staying at my place, but he just gave me vague answers. I want to know more about him, so we can be closer, but I also want to give him space. What should I do?" Julie asked.

Mark thought about it, stroking the stray hairs on his chin. "By the sound of it...he could be a criminal, considering he'd been shot...or maybe..he could be an alien from a world even more advanced than our own, just disguised as a human! How amazing would that be?"

Julie did laugh a little at this. "Yeah...it..would be...but he told me he lives alone in an apartment…"

This prompted Mark to come up with something else. "I have an idea! What if….he's a lonely, tortured genius, whose managed to create amazing inventions he keeps to himself for whatever reason. Maybe he hates the world and doesn't we think deserve them or something. But anyways, this guy also made portals, and maybe he can travel to other planets and galaxies! That would be amazing! Again, considering he got shot, he really could be a criminal."

His theory did sound a bit out there, but Julie figured she should consider all the possibilities regarding Rick. "Maybe…"

Vivian facepalmed at this. "This is all so ridiculous. You let a random stranger come into your house? And now Mark is coming up with these outlandish theories about him? Give me a break.."

Mark just grinned at her. "Aw Viv, don't be like this! I mean really, what do you think is going on? You don't think Julie would lie about something like this do you?"

Vivian became flustered from his words. "What? No of course not..I mean...this is all just.."

"Then what do you think is going on?" He asked.

She couldn't give him an answer, she just grumbled.

Julie decided to interject at this. "I took him in because he was hurt. I did want to take him to the hospital, but like I said, he refused. I didn't know what else to do."

Again, Vivian didn't respond, she just rolled at her eyes.

Mark continued to talk, seeing that no one else was. "Jules, I think when the time is right, Rick will open up to you. It may take awhile, but I'm sure it'll happen. I guess you just have to be patient."

Julie nodded. "You're right, I guess my mind's been focusing on this because...I just don't know what to think. But, he's my friend. He wasn't the nicest at first, however, he get along better now and I do..enjoy being around him and all.."

Mark raised a brow suggestively. "You like being around him huh?"

She realized what he was getting at and blushed nervously. "It's...it's not like that! I mean...he's kinda attractive...a little..."

"Aw Jules, I was just teasing!" Mark laughed. "But...I mean...if you do end up with this guy...whether he's a lonely, tortured genius or an alien from an advanced world...it would be really cool don't you think?"

Well, Julie had to admit, he did have a point there. "I...I guess…"

Vivian decided to get involved in the conversation again because of this. "Julie, that's not really a good idea. What if this guy is a criminal? It could put you in serious danger."

Julie's blush faded and she looked upset. "Um.."

"Vivian! Don't try to suck the fun out of this!" Mark protested. "And anyways, Julie can be with whoever she wants, it's not our choice."

"But-"

"Vivian...don't you remember I have a criminal record too? Just relax about all this." He pointed out.

Vivian was at a loss for words, feeling utterly defeated. "Fine...whatever.." She then turned ro Julie. "Be careful about all this okay?"

She smiled at her. "I will."

The rest of the time Julie spent with the two of them went well, but as soon as Johnny came by, she decided to leave; he didn't understand a single thing about personal space, at all.

Later on in the day, Julie decided to pay a visit to Rick. She did miss him after all, and though she wanted answers, she figured it was best to wait. He had told her where his apartment was, and when she went over to knock on his door, someone, presumably another person in the apartment complex, interrupted her. "Why are you bothering going in there? That guy that lives there? He never talks to anyone, he just keeps to himself."

Julie had her knuckle near the door, she wasn't sure what to say to that, but it did give her an idea of his reputation here. "Umm...well...he does to talk to me...we're friends."

The person was surprised by this. "Really? That's pretty amazing, you actually got him to not only talk to you, but actually befriend you too."

When Julie didn't respond, they spoke up again. "Good luck remaining friends with him." They muttered, then walked into their apartment.

Julie thought about what had just happened, and she realized it showed how lonely and antisocial Rick actually was. She felt so bad for him, and she wondered why he was reclusive to begin with. She had so many questions about him and virtually no answers…

Taking a deep breath, Julie knocked on the door and was soon greeted by a disheveled-looking Rick. "Hi Rick…" She greeted shyly. "Are you okay? You look a little messy.."

"I'm fine, just worked a little too m-much last night." He told her, brushing off her concerns. "Come in."

Julie did so, and looked around. She noted it appeared messy, just like him. The coffee table was covered in papers that seemed to have notes, drawings, charts and graphs on it. The kitchen area didn't fare much better, there was cups, plates and other dishes everywhere. But it wasn't all bad. There was posters for numerous bands she enjoyed like Queen, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, as well as one she didn't recognize called "The Flesh Curtains". There was also posters for movies like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Godfather. The TV was on too, but it showed nothing but static. Julie continued looking around for a moment before focusing on Rick himself again.

"It's...nice here.." She smiled awkwardly, trying to be kind.

Rick laughed. "N-No it's okay, I know this place is a mess. Y-You don't have to pretend to like i-i-it."

Julie breathed out a sigh of relief, making Rick laugh even more, and she joined in on it. She looked back at "The Flesh Curtains" poster, and thought she could ask about that at least. "What's that band..The Flesh Curtains? I've never heard of them."

His laughter faded. "It's just some unknown band, I happen to like them."

"Can you show me their music?"

"Maybe later.."

Julie didn't know what was wrong with asking about that band, it was really weird. Why did he have a problem with it? She shrugged it off and sat down on the couch. "Um..I'm sorry..do you think we could at least watch TV or something?"

A smile formed on his face and he sat down beside her. "That sounds good."

As they did so, Julie couldn't help but look at the papers on the coffee table. The drawings seemed to be of inventions, and she had no idea what was going on with the notes, charts and graphs. Seeing them though, really bolstered the theory Mark came up that Rick was a genius. Julie really wanted to ask about it, but decided against it, he would tell her when he was ready.

Cyn was thrilled when he noticed he had finally tracked down Rick's location, it was apparently in some place called Muskegon. When he arrived there, he kept his ship invisible until the tracker found Rick's exact location, and he landed his ship there, right in front of the apartment complex.

He barged down Rick's apartment door, surprising both him and Julie. Rick got up and narrowed his eyes at Cyn, knowing exactly why he was here. Meanwhile, Julie's mouth was hanging open, and she was staring at Cyn in complete shock. There was an alien here! She could tell he was one from his cyan-blue skin, pointed fuzzy ears and four eyes. Her mind was racing, and she was glued to the spot in shock.

Cyn was glaring right back at Rick. "Give back the fuel source Sanchez! Or I'll take it myself."

Rick laughed mockingly. "Too late, I already used it for a gun I-I made."

"You what?!" Cyn exclaimed. He was angered even further, he couldn't believe his empire's precious fuel source had been wasted on a gun of all things. He started shooting at Rick, but he was able to dodge all the bullets.

Rick turned his head over at a frightened Julie for a moment, a look of worry in his eyes. "J-Julie! Get away! Go hide somewhere!" He yelled. Seeing no other option, she did as told. Julie went over and found a room with a bunch of advanced technology inside of it, shocking her. It was a room that seemed safe to hide in, so that's what she did.

Knowing that Julie was safe, Rick made his move and began attacking Cyn. He was able to easily overpower him, knocking his gun away, and causing Cyn to land on the floor. He tried to get up, but Rick kept holding him down. In order to get him off, Cyn kneed Rick in the groin, which worked.

When Cyn got up, he gave Rick a disgusted look. "If there's anything left of that chunk you took, you better give it back, or else you'll be in a lot more pain."

Rick didn't take this threat seriously however. "K-Kinky. Is th-that really supposed to be a th-threat?"

This response completely baffled Cyn, who tried to throw a punch at Rick, but he quickly evaded it.

They continued fighting until Cyn remembered something, he didn't know who that strange girl was. The information he got on Rick made no mention of her, so he decided to ask. "Who was that girl?"

Rick instantly knew he was referring to Julie, and became enraged. "Leave h-her be."

Now Cyn knew that whoever that girl was, she must be important to Rick. "Why? Does she mean something to you?"

Rick wasn't going to take this, he started firing at Cyn rapidly, which scared him off enough to make him scurry off back to his ship and leave.

As soon as Rick knew Cyn was gone, he went over to find Julie, and eventually spotted her curled up on the floor of his lab. He sighed, he had really wanted for a better time to share his secret with her, but now it seemed he didn't have a choice. He helped her up, and she stared at him curiously. "What...what is this place? And why is there so much advanced technology here?" She asked intently.

"I'm...I'm a g-genius scientist and inventor. A-All of the advanced tech you see h-here, was made by me." He confessed bluntly.

Julie was in shock by this. She looked back at the inventions, before looking at Rick again. "You made all this? But how?"

"Told you," He chuckled. "Genius scientist and in-inventor, I also happen to be the smartest man in the u-universe."

Now she was in even more shock. "You are?"

"Yep, let me prove it to y-you."

Rick walked over to a blackboard, and Julie followed behind him. "I discovered the secret to perfecting interstellar travel, by making this.." He pulled out a container filled with a dark-coloured liquid. "And let me show y-you h-how I did it."

Julie watched, in a mix of awe, amazement, surprise and confusion as he wrote out an incredibly complex math equation on the blackboard. She considered herself fairly good at math, but even so, she couldn't understand or grasp the massive equation he'd wrote out.

When he finished, he turned back at her and was amused by the look on her face. "Well, do you believe I'm the smartest man in the universe?" He asked. All Julie could do was nod, making Rick laugh.

Now, Julie knew Mark's theory about Rick being a genius inventor was true, but was he tortured and lonely? She thought so, but she was still left with questions. "Why was that alien attacking you? Why did he want the fuel source?"

This was a question Rick couldn't bring himself to give her an honest answer to. Sure, he could tell her about him being a genius scientist and inventor, but not about being a criminal. Rick was sure if she knew the truth, that she would hate him and regret helping him. "It's not important right now."

"But Rick.."

"Don't ask anymore about this o-okay! J-Just.."

Julie felt hurt by how harsh he was being. Whatever the answer was, he wasn't ready to tell her yet. No matter how much she wanted the answers, she knew it was better to wait and not push him.

She left, feeling dejected, and Rick did feel bad for acting rude. He really was becoming more fond of her, and didn't want to ruin their friendship. He decided that tomorrow, he would properly apologize to her.

a/n:I thought it would make sense for a younger Rick to be reclusive, and originally was a loner. I also have Rick be messy, even though he's cleaner now, Julie will help him become cleaner, it's to show she still influences him.