A/N: I greatly enjoyed writing this one. Hope you enjoy! Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Chapter 7

He had met her while trying to steal vials of DNA from the local university's lab. He needed gorilla DNA, as he was having trouble getting one of his genetic experiments to work; sure, he could have broken into a zoo and retrieved some blood from a gorilla, but he didn't really feel like dealing with an angry ape.

There he was, standing alone in the dark laboratory classroom, rummaging through the university's cryogenic freezer as he searched for a vial of gorilla DNA. Aha. There it was. He wrapped his fingers delicately around the vial and held it up to eye level, smirking. This was going to help his research in so many ways, he knew it.

"Hello?"

Rick whipped around at the sound of the feminine voice. A silhouette of a woman stood in the doorway; she flicked on the lights. He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the sudden influx of light. She was clearly a graduate student; Rick guessed that she couldn't have been older than he was, at 22.

He slammed the freezer shut and slipped the vial of DNA into his pocket. "Oh hey there, I didn't see-"

"Who are you and what are you doing in the cryogenic freezer, at…" she glanced at the clock above his head, "eleven-thirty p.m.?"

"Well, I-I guess I could ask you the same question, babe." Rick said, an eyebrow cocked. He took a step forward.

"Don't call me that," she said sharply, practically snarling. "And I'm in here because I forgot some papers for Dr. Harrison." She looked down at his hands, one of which was in his pocket, where he had moments before slipped the DNA in. She looked back up at him. "Who are you? Are you a student here?"

"Of course I am," Rick said, thinking quickly. "I was searching for some, uh, some stem cells for… Dr. Peterson."

The girl narrowed her eyes. "Dr. Peterson isn't in the biological sciences department... you aren't a student! Who are you, and what are you doing here?!" She demanded.

"Fine, fine…I was just going to borrow some DNA for an experiment." He pulled the vial out of the pocket in his labcoat, and prepared himself to portal out of the room as soon as this conversation was finished.

"'Borrow' DNA?! No, that's stealing! Put it back or I'm calling the police!" She grabbed the phone that was hanging on the wall, preparing to dial.

"I'm a scientist!" Rick defended himself, pointing to his chest. "And I'll be outta here before you even press that dial button, and I guarantee you'll never be able to find me."

"No, you're a thief!" She spat, finger hovering over the call button on the phone. "And you're stealing my vial of DNA! I was going to use that for some really important experiments, you know! How the hell did you even get in here?!"

"Oh, this is your gorilla DNA? I had no idea," Rick said, swirling the vial. He looked at her, an eyebrow cocked. She was pretty. Her red hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, her eyes blue and sharp as daggers. There was something about the way her elegant shoulders sloped under the lab coat, the way her slim frame leaned forward in accusation. He could tell she was not afraid of him. "You kn-eeurrp-ow, I need to use this for some very important experiments, as well."

"What the hell kind of experiments are you doing, where you need to steal DNA?! What, are you going to make some type of bio-weapon?" She said incredulously, looking him up and down.

Rick laughed and swirled the vial again. "Nope. You see, the problem is, I'm reeeaaallllyyyy good at, well, pretty much every field in science- you know, astrophysics, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, general and specific relativity, molecular shit- you know, the standard stuff- except for genetics. Soooo, I'm going to be doing some experiments by combining DNA and seeing what happens so I can understand it better, among other things. I needed gorilla DNA specifically, and your school's lab happened to have some. So, thanks, sweetheart!"

"Don't call me 'sweetheart'! That's it, I'm calling the cops." She pressed the dial button on the phone, putting the reciever up to her mouth. "Yes, hello, 9-1-1? There's a thief on the local university campus, in building 10, room 234—he's stealing vials of DNA."

"Sorry sister, I gotta go!" Rick slipped the vial into his pocket. He whipped out his portal gun and shot a portal into the wall. Rick looked back at her and winked.

She stared at him, her eyes wide in amazement as they bounced between Rick and the green portal swirling on the wall. She lowered the phone. "How…?"

Rick grinned and pointed at his portal gun. "My own invention. It can take me aaaaanywhere I want. I've traveled the galaxy, seen other planets. Yep, that's right!" Rick felt his heart tighten ever so slightly. He liked the look on her face, the way her pink lips made a small oval, the way her blue eyes bounced between him and the portal, calculating, thoughtful. She was intelligent; he liked that.

"What…did you say your name was?" She said.

"Can't tell you that, since you just called the cops on me. Not like they'll be able to catch me, though. See ya!" Rick hopped through, the portal disappearing behind him.

!

Rick jolted, his eyes snapping open, his chest moving up and down erratically as he tried to catch his breath. His arms tensed against the Gromflomite's holds around his wrists as he fought to calm himself. Of course they would find that memory. Fuck, whatever they used was strong. Rick closed his eyes again, forcing himself to stop feeling so panicky. He opened his eyes once more, meeting them with the purple stare of the Federation woman.

"That the best you got, bitch? A memory from, what- forty years ago?" Rick smirked, a bead of sweat dripping off his nose. "You're gonna have to look harder if you want any of the juicy stuff I have stored up here!" Rick nodded upward, indicating his mind.

The woman shrugged, inspecting her fingernails. "Oh, don't worry, Mr. Sanchez. That is definitely not the 'best we got', as you so eloquently put it. I'm assuming that that was your wife." She added before glancing at her watch. "Well, looks like I must cut our little get-together short. Goodbye, Mr. Sanchez. Take him away," She said to the Gromflomites. With a look of sneering condescension on her face, the woman delicately entered a code into the door and exited, the door sliding down firmly shut behind her. The sound of the closed door echoed for a moment around the chamber. The Gromflomites holding his arms roughly stuffed him back onto his wall; the robot came by and zoomed him back through the hallways, back through the large doors that read "MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON" on them, and clicked him back in his place on the wall of prisoners.

Rick hated her. He fucking hated her. He hated the Federation, he hated this prison, he hated Jerry, he hated Tammy, but he especially hated her. This unnamed Federation bitch was becoming a real prick in his side, as she administered the memory-retrieval drug with that God-awful smirk on her face in an attempt to retrieve his memories and knowledge about-well, anything, really. Rick's mind stored a vast amount of valuable information- from the rebellion, to the Citadel of Ricks, to his portal gun, and more. They wanted in, but Rick wasn't going to allow them. Sure, he had given up his freedom for the safety of his family- fuck them, he thought to himself- but he wasn't going to give up his secrets.

Or was he?

They were developing a more powerful memory-retrieval serum, and this one was working, he admitted it. They managed to pull up his memory of meeting his wife for the first time. Rick had purposefully stuffed those sorts of memories away long ago—that particular memory he had stored away at the same level as his memories of the Citadel, the rebellion, and his portal gun. It scared Rick Sanchez that they had accessed that level of pushed-away memories.

It was only in rare moments of soberness that Rick recollected any happy memories of a young Beth or her mother. He hated thinking about the past- he preferred to deal with situations as they came, not dwell in bygone time.

And yet, as he hung alone in the barren chamber, he was sober, and found himself thinking more and more of the past. His mind wandered from Summer, to Beth, to his wife, to Bird Person and Squanchy, until it could no longer avoid the elephant in the room—or, more like it, his mind.

Morty.

A feeling of ugly guilt stabbed at Rick's insides as he thought about his grandson. As far as he was aware, Morty didn't know Rick had turned himself in, and probably hated Rick for leaving them. And, as far as Rick knew, Morty was dead.

Rick let out a small hiss through his teeth. Fuck.

No. He wouldn't allow himself to feel guilty. He was no martyr, but he did sacrifice his freedom for the safety of his family.

But your family isn't safe—your grandkids are probably fucking dead, blasted to pieces on some planet.

Does Beth know?

Rick closed his eyes and dropped his head, a couple of wild gray hairs falling in his face. That memory—the Federation had seen that, they had seen the moment that he had been most vulnerable, where he had, admittedly, actually, for the first and only time, fallen in love with someone.

Rick clenched and unclenched his fist.

He had had many flings with women over the years—however, Unity was probably the only other organism that ever came close to the same level that his wife had been.

It was, after all, at the encouragement of Bird Person that he even got married in the first place. Rick did love the woman, it was true, though he did not want to admit it. However, Bird Person sometimes seemed to know Rick better than anyone, even Rick himself. Rick's best friend knew how much he loved the woman, and urged him to settle down and marry her.

Rick spat at Bird Person, telling him that marriage would never work for him, that he could never slow down and settle- he was meant to explore the cosmos and create new inventions! Being tied down to Earth would practically kill him. He invented his portal gun and his spaceship so he could leave this crappy planet, not be stuck on it.

Of course, at the time, neither Rick nor Bird Person were aware of one crucial detail- that the woman was pregnant.

When she initially told Rick, the first thing he did was balk. He couldn't believe it-well, actually, yes he could, the two of them went at it like rabbits- but they'd always use protection. What had went wrong? He wasn't the kind of person who should be having kids!

Rick realized he was stuck at a crossroad, with one path being the coward's way out. He could either forego his explorations and settle down with this woman whom he did actually care for, or he could up and leave her and forget this whole love-fiasco happened.

A part of him wanted to leave- he didn't want any strings attached. However, the other part of him beat these apprehensive feelings down; he loved her. So, as per recommendation of his wise best friend, Rick married the woman.

Of course, situations began to run south about a year after his daughter was born. He loved Beth with all of his heart; as soon as he laid his eyes on her, he believed that nothing in the universe could tear him away from his daughter. However, Rick kept in communication with Bird Person and Squanchy, and kept his ears open on the intergalactic radio frequencies. Talk of the Galactic Federation's growing presence troubled Rick; news of their recent acquisition of Thruvar Delta Nine and other systems worried him. He knew that Delta Nine was only a few systems away from the solar system where Earth resided. The Federation was not yet aware of Earth, but they would be soon, if no one did anything. Rick knew he needed to protect his family; he was aware of what would happen if the Federation made its way to Earth. The plucky blue planet would become enslaved to the bureaucrats and would be at their mercy.

However, there was even more whispers of the beginnings of a group who called themselves the "Freedom Fighters". They were a resistance party against the Galactic Federation; the bureaucrats considered anyone who were members to be galactic terrorists.

Bird Person and Squanchy were members, and, without much hesitation, so was Rick Sanchez.

Rick joined for two paramount reasons: one, because he couldn't stand the Federation nor its twisted ideas of how to control and keep the galaxy in check, and two, because many species already considered him the smartest person in the galaxy and needed his intelligence to invent projects and weapons that would help overthrow the corrupt government.

Rick obliged, and fought with the Freedom Fighters against the Federation. He drew up blueprint after blueprint of artillery and ships for the band of rebels to use.

However, the only blueprints for any tool he didn't give to the Freedom Fighters was for his portal gun. He had invented it in his spare time for his own personal use, and it proved to be very useful. Rick's friends and fellow rebels were aware of his portal device- it came in very handy during close escapes- but all too quickly, the Federation was also made aware.

The Federation had a strong interest in Rick and his portal gun. Not only was Rick the only three-dimensional organism who had traveled interdimensionally- he had actually invented it. The Federation knew that Rick and his portal gun were the key to accessing the many other dimensions on the finite curve, and they would stop at nothing to retrieve it, end the rebellion, and end Rick Sanchez.

However, without intention, Rick had sacrificed his family for the safety of the galaxy. He refused to tell his wife-let alone his young daughter- about the galactic war between the rebels and Federation. He knew that would only put them in danger. Instead, he would quietly leave for a few weeks or so before returning to a joyful daughter and an angry wife.

Slowly, over the course of about seven years, Rick found himself away from his wife and daughter more and more. The few times he was home, it became nothing but tension between his wife and him. Anytime he tried to take Beth anywhere with the portal gun, just to show her another amazing world, her mother would become angry. Slowly, their marriage deteriorated.

Finally, Rick had had enough. The Federation and the Rebellion were getting out of hand, and his marriage with his wife was failing. He realized that love was just a chemical reaction. It had hit him hard, at first- he would never forget how different she was from anyone else he had ever met, and how she intrigued him- but, over time, it all fell apart, for multiple reasons. When Beth was eight, he kissed her on the cheek, told her he loved her, took his portal gun, and left.

Rick clenched his teeth and opened his eyes, staring at nothing, bringing himself back to the present. Fuck. He hated thinking about what he did. He knew Beth had abandonment issues because of him, and he knew that he manipulated her as an adult. He knew that if he played his cards right with his daughter, he could slip past any emotional baggage that their relationship carried.

He hated how emotional humans were—and he hated himself for not being an exception.

Rick closed his eyes again, attempting to push all thoughts away. He was exhausted; he was so tired from all of this Federation bullshit. A small part of him whispered, telling him to just give up and let the Federation have it, have it all—then he would finally be finished with everything.

Rick sighed; what he really needed was a drink.

A/N: I personally think that though Rick is really good at—well, everything in the field of science—the one area he isn't very proficient in is genetics. I mean, look at how he Cronenberged the world by screwing up the antidote! Reviews are greatly appreciated. Stay schwifty!