When Cyn had returned to Fyralog, he had explained what had happened to him, making the mention he had almost got the fuel source, but Rick had burned him, literally. Pyri was becoming frustrated with Cyn, she was forced to watch her citizens suffer through an energy crisis with nothing much she could do about it.

"Remember Cyn, you have one last chance left, don't blow it." She reminded him. "You fail this time, and you're discharged."

Cyn was nervous about this, he so desperately wanted to help, so he didn't want to screw this up. "Can't you help me in any way? Get me some form of assistance?" He asked hopefully.

Pyri thought about it. "I suppose so, I'll assign some other generals to help you."

He grinned eagerly at this, hoping this new help would finally cause him to get that chunk back.

When the help did arrive, they were also hoping to get the fuel back, and Cyn headed off with them on their ships to Earth. However, when they arrived, Rick was nowhere to be found, not even his girl, and this confused him greatly. Using the tracker, it seemed Rick was at least near...Glorf. Cyn sighed, he didn't want to head towards enemy territory, but it seemed he and the other generals had no choice.

Cyn decided he couldn't risk it, and that he needed to come up with a plan. He and his generals stayed on their ship, figuring out what to do about Rick.

It had been a few days since Rick and Julie had arrived on Glorf, and they'd been spending most of their time together, not that they minded or anything due to their growing feelings for each other…it was mainly down to the fact both were unfamiliar with Glorf, and didn't know any of the inhabitants. Though Julie hoped that could change soon.

Morning came by, and Julie had prepared breakfast for the both of them using some ingredients and other such things from the leftover food, as well as more food Rick had gotten for the two of them. He was outside at the moment, so she set his food, including a drink, on a tray and headed out to see him.

She saw that he was testing the new weapons he made on some test dummies. Each of the dummies had appeared so far to either end up in pieces or not looking the…..most...flattering.

Julie smiled upon seeing him, she didn't want to distract him, so she set his tray of food down on the table his weapons were on and headed back inside were she took to eating her own breakfast. Not long later, she heard the blasts from his weapons stop, and peered outside to see him sitting down to eat. She was glad to see him eating, he had been overworking himself too much, never giving himself a break to eat, drink or sleep at all.

After breakfast, Rick popped back inside and smiled at her. "That was a pretty good breakfast you made by the way."

She couldn't help but blush at his words. "Thank you...and I'm glad that you finally ate and drank something, it's not good to overwork yourself you know."

He sighed. "Y-Yeah I know but..I just feel it's important to make all these weapons...if that blue asshole or any of the ot-other fyralogins come, we'll n-need to be a-a-able to protect ourselves properly."

"I understand..but taking breaks every once in a while is still important."

Rick didn't respond, just looking away for a moment. She had a point, but he was too focused on protecting her, keeping her safe from any harm that could come her way. He cared about her too much to let her get hurt, though he still was in denial of his feelings towards her.

When he didn't reply, Julie pressed her lips together and thought for a moment, before an idea came to mind. "Hey, why don't we go explore the town we're in together? I think it could be pretty fun, don't you?"

He perked up at this, a smile forming on his face. "Yeah...yeah that could be fun, if that's what you wanna do."

"Oh it is what I wanna do!" She exclaimed. "This is the first alien civilization I've been to, I'd like to explore it and learn more about it."

"Makes sense." Rick chuckled. "Come o-on then, let's get g-going."

Rick and Julie began to wander around the small town they were in together, taking in the sights, with Julie looking amazed the whole time, making Rick smile.

She had a strong curiosity for the universe, and he kinda admired it. Once, he shared her curiosity, and while he still had it in a way, it wasn't as innocent as hers was, Rick had become too jaded unfortunately. He didn't want the same thing to happen to her, so knew he had to preserve her innocence.

As they walked through the town together, they came across a building resembling a library. Julie's curiosity was instantly peaked, and she looked over at Rick and pointed to it. "We should go in there! It looks like a library, I bet there's so much to learn about Glorf there!"

He nodded, smiling wider at her. "Sounds good."

The two walked inside the building together, seeing that it truly was a library, and a very high tech one too. It had many advanced computers around, and Julie took notice of the fact the books were all digital. The library also featured a cafe and a place to relax and read.

Julie was a bit intimidated by how advanced everything was, it was different from the libraries on Earth, but in other ways, it was the same too, both having a very relaxing and homey atmosphere. It was strange to her...but nice, and she started walking around with Rick until she came across the "history" section. She picked one of the books and sat down on a cushion to read it. Rick wasn't interested in reading anything, so he just joined her on the cushion.

Both remained silent for a while, due to it being a library and all, even though Julie wanted so badly to gush about everything she was learning, she decided to wait until they left.

As they sat together, Rick looked around and noticed the yyorians staring at them, more specifically, him, and their glares seemed to be angry ones. Not that he blamed them, the higher ups loved having him here just to piss off the fyralogins, but the average yyorians clearly weren't too happy about a dangerous and notorious criminal hanging around. He could handle it though, people hating him? He was used to that. Rick would only have a problem with it if the glares were directed towards Julie, but thankfully, nobody seemed to be mad at her.

After some time passed, Julie noticed she felt hungry and stood up, seeing this, Rick stood up too. "What is it?" He asked quietly.

"I'm starting to feel a bit hungry, so I'm going to go get something to eat at that cafe." She replied, also quietly.

"I should come with you. You gotta know what's safe to eat after all don't you?"

She nodded, seeing that he was right. They were on another planet with aliens that most certainly had a different diet, and could potentially consume things humans couldn't after all.

Julie then walked towards the cafe, with Rick following her. Even as he walked, he noticed the angry glares never went away.

Upon arriving at the cafe, they both looked at the menu, and Rick helped single out what she was able to eat. She ended up ordering something resembling ice cream with whipped cream on top, and before she left, the yyorian behind the counter said something to her: "Careful being with...that guy.." They pointed towards Rick. "He's nothing but trouble."

Julie said nothing in response, just clutching onto her food and walking towards a table. Rick glared angrily at the yyorian before he sat across from Julie, both still silent.

She started to think about her feelings for him. Julie knew that she was falling in love, there was so much she found to admire about him, so much she liked about him, and there was also the way he never failed to make her laugh or smile. His presence made her feel warm and happy inside, and like all her pain and sorrow disappeared.

Because of all this, Julie also knew that Rick wasn't as bad as everyone made him about to be. Not once he had ever hurt her on purpose, and he was kind towards her too, not at first, but he quickly warmed up to her and had became increasingly nicer. She loved being around him too, and of course, there was her growing desire for him..

She let out a sigh, and slowly began to eat her food. Rick noticed she seemed upset, and hearing other people in the cafe talking, he decided to say something to her. "You okay?"

Julie looked up at him and nodded. "I'm fine, I just...can't stop thinking about the yyorian saying that you're nothing but trouble."

"W-Well…" Rick chuckled. "That's not entirely wrong. But don't l-let it get to you okay? Yeah I cause a lot of trouble, that's just who I am but…" A blush formed on his face. "I-I wouldn't let any trouble come y-your way."

She smiled. "I know, and I'll try not to let it get to me, as much as I can I suppose."

It was then she noticed her food came with an extra spoon, which was probably down to the yyorians thinking they were a couple. Julie picked up the spoon and handed it to him. "Want some?"

"Sure." Rick agreed, taking the spoon from her.

Deciding to make her feel better, they began to talk about other things, and Rick couldn't help but feel all warm inside whenever he managed to make her laugh or smile, but as usual, he tried to ignore it.

As they talked, something came to Julie's mind. "Rick...why were you so nervous about being touched and hugged in the past? I know your not used to it..but why?"

He gave her a surprised look, and she became flustered. "Ah I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have asked, I-"

"No, it's fi-fine." He interrupted, and sighed deeply. "I-I just...I-I-I…" He didn't didn't want to tell her 'why' yet. "..well..the only time I've ever been touched like that is..." He chuckled lightly. "..when I'm fucking, you know, with men, women, whoever I want. Outside of that? Nope, it's never happened, at least not until I met y-you."

Julie's got a deep blush on her face when he muttered out 'fucking', he was so vulgar! At least she knew he was sexually active, and it made her really jealous, wanting Rick to 'take her' too, but she said nothing about it.

Rick still didn't tell her why, and it made her suspect the worst. She did not want to think about the idea Rick was abused in his childhood, she considered it might be true beforehand, and now it seemed even more likely, and she hated it so much. Julie figured that Rick's parents must've been very unloving and unkind, very cruel, unsupportive people. It would certainly explain some of Rick's other behaviours too, like the fact he seemed untrusting of others and was noted to be violent, he was a criminal too. She wondered if Rick's parents were also tied to his rebellious nature, thinking maybe they were very strict.

Julie wanted so badly to ask him about this, but decided against it, figuring it was best to wait; she didn't want to feel like she was being insensitive, or stepping out of line or anything like that.

"I'm really sorry.." She apologized softly.

"No, don't be sorry, y-you d-didn't do anything wrong." Rick told her.

"It's just..I feel awful for you, whatever the reason you're not used to any type of affection can't be anything good." Julie admitted. " Is there anything I can do?"

"Well..guess you'll just have to make me used to it." He winked. "An-And I'm kin-kinda...starting to anyways."

She give him a gentle smile at this, feeling glad he was getting used to her affections.

After they finished their food, Julie rented a few books she liked, and on the way to their next destination, she went on and on about everything she learned. Rick wasn't very interested in any of it, but he just listened to her with a smile on his face.

The next place they went to was a theater, which was playing a movie featuring both action and romance, making it something Rick and Julie could enjoy together, which they did. Rick just grinned when he saw how much Julie was invested in the movie's love story, even if he hated romance. It was something she adored, so he tolerated it for her sake, feeling annoyed with himself for once being so rude about her love for it.

Once the movie was over, they decided to go explore more of the town the next day, but on the way back, Rick felt someone tightly grab onto his wrist, and he turned his head over to see an angry yyorian staring at him.

"I don't appreciate our planet harbouring a criminal like you, especially not one so notorious dangerous." The yyorian growled. "It could put our people in serious danger, and I won't tolerate it."

Rick rolled his eyes, and forcefully pulled off the yyorian before starting to walk away with Julie.

The yyorian glared at them menacingly, if Rick wasn't going to listen to him, then he was going to have to do this the hard way. Everyone knew the girl he was with was his weak spot, if he threatened her...well...Rick would have to listen to him then!

He grabbed Julie's arm and pulled her against him, placing a glistening knife against her throat, while she started to cry. "If you don't want your girl's neck to be sliced open, you'll listen to me, criminal."

At this, Rick was seething with rage. The only weapon he had with him was his own blade, but that was no problem. Before the poor yyorian even knew what was happening, Rick knocked him in the face, sending him flying. He then grabbed onto Julie, wanting to comfort her, but knowing he had to deal with the yyorian first.

When the yyorian got up, Rick stepped protectively in front of a frightened Julie, his eyes narrowed. The yyorian charged at Rick, who effortlessly stabbed him in the chest, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to the ground.

"Look at you.." He managed to say through the pain, clutching onto his chest. "You're one of the most deadly and feared criminals in the galaxy and yet...you've given yourself a weakness..your love for that girl...it's funny really.."

Rick had completely lost himself in fury at this point. "I didn't give myself a weakness!" He yelled defensively as he sliced the yyorian in two.

Julie had covered her eyes with her face, looking away. But when she did uncover her eyes, she saw Rick sitting on his knees, covered in blood….and she swore she heard him sob…she went beside him, and laid a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

When they returned home, Julie and Rick were sitting on their bed, with Julie cleaning the blood off of Rick, who was looking down, neither saying a word.

Julie thought about the fact that yyorian had said she was "Rick's weakness", and she wondered if she really was. He cared about her more than anything it seemed, and he had only gotten angry when the yyorian threatened to kill her, they had also only left Earth because, according to Rick: "We can't stay here, not when you're in danger."

It seemed to really make sense, Rick prioritized her above anything and anyone else, and to be honest, it made her heart soar, knowing he cared that much about her.

At the same time, she felt guilty that others saw her as making Rick weak, she knew Rick didn't like it, figuring he didn't want to be seen as weak to begin with. Julie also felt guilty that she couldn't even fight, she couldn't defend herself, she had to rely on Rick to help her. She knew Rick's enemies could take advantage of this, knowing there was nothing she could do on her own, and she needed him. It's not like Julie could even stand up for herself to begin with either, she was passive and shy. She didn't want to constantly be a damsel in distress that he needed to save and protect all the time, she didn't want to feel like a burden to him, but she was starting to.

"Rick I.." Julie sighed sadly. "I'm...I'm so sorry...I must feel like a huge burden to you and.." She started to tear up. "...and that you must think I'm just a weak crybaby.."

Rick was shocked that she would even think of saying something like that to him. "Julie! Don't you dare fucking talk about yourself like that ever again! You are not a burden or a weak crybaby at all!"

Julie sniffled a little. "But..I can't fight, I can't stand up for myself, and so far, a few people who hate you have already tried to hurt me, and I can't do anything about it. I have to rely on you..and…" Her crying was starting to get worse. "I feel like I really am a crybaby, that's what everyone used to always call me growing up..you shouldn't have to deal with me Rick...you really shouldn't…"

He couldn't believe what he was hearing, he never thought she'd talk about herself like that. Rick knew now Julie was a very insecure person, lacking a lot of confidence in herself, and it seemed he knew where it came from, she was bullied in her youth. He knew her pain, having been bullied as a child as well, at least they had another thing in common. His anger was completely gone, and he softened, wanting to make her feel better again.

"Julie I don't see you as a burden, I-I…" He blushed. "I don't really say this to people but..I-I-I c-c-care about y-y-you a lot o-okay? We're friends, and I don't like you speaking so negatively about yourself. I want to deal with you and...look..I've dealt with bullying too, but you shouldn't let that shit get to you, ever."

Rick pressed his face against her cheek, and she blushed too, feeling touched by his words. She hadn't known he'd been bullied too, but she was glad he could understand her pain. This was only making the feelings Julie felt for Rick stronger, she felt the urge to hug and kiss him, but resisted as best she could.

"Thank you Rick.." Julie smiled. "I tried so hard not to let the bullying get to me, but I just dealt with it so much. The other kids would make fun of my red hair, or call me names like loser, weak, a baby and...as you already know...a crybaby..I'm not strong like you Rick, but I want to try and be."

Rick smiled back at her, hiding the fact he wanted to hurt everyone who had ever hurt her. "That's good. I know that shit hurts a lot, I was bullied for my looks too, the other kids would call me ugly, and make fun of my unibrow. I w-was also called things like a freak or a weirdo. At first, it hurt so much, but eventually, I stopped caring, and now I don't give one single fuck about what people think of me." He grinned. "A-And I hope you don't feel insecure about being a redhead."

"Why?"

"Cause I got a thing for them." He winked at her, making her face even more red, causing him to laugh."By the way, it's kinda amazing you still seem to want to be friends, even though it's putting y-you in a lot of d-danger."

"That's because I care more about you than my own safety." Julie confessed. "No matter how many times I get put in danger, I'll always want to stay your friend."

Despite Rick's surprise by her response, he was thrilled. He knew no matter what happened, he would always be there for her, and protect her from harm, the feelings he was developing for her also growing stronger.

a/n: I just wanted to have at least scene showing Rick being protective of Julie, I felt the need to.

I decided to acknowledge Rick's pansexuality, it's kinda important. Julie doesn't even react to Rick saying he fucks both men and women, despite being from the 1970s, I guess it just shows how loving and accepting she is.

There's not too much to say here, other than that I want these two to kiss and fuck already! Get it over with you fools! I love and hate writing slow burn at the same time.

I also just want to say, i didn't want their love story to be just "girl saving guy", not that I have a problem with those stories, but I thought it would be more meaningful if they saved each other.