Morty had realized recently that there was something wrong with Sam. The man had been acting peculiarly, and some of Morty's belongings had begun to go missing. He wouldn't really care, but his room had been nearly trashed once and he was tired of all of this. Sam had a lot of explaining to do, especially after Morty noticed a lot of his valuables and small trinkets were missing from the mini safe under his bed.

       "AJ," Morty huffed, tucking the kid back in to bed at nearly three AM, "have you seen uncle Sam?" The toddler shook his head with wide eyes, "No, daddy."
       "Okay," Morty sighed heavily, "goodnight, baby." 
      "Night, daddy," AJ responded, turning over and cuddling up to his Patrick plush, the name 'rick' on the nametag designed to look erased from whatever odd episode Patrick became a wrestler in. Honestly, Morty was just glad to notice the kid was starting to dislike Spongebob. It was becoming a hassle, making sure he had every character, dealing with his oceanic room. Honestly, though, he was just afraid of what he would become obsessed with next.

       When Morty had finally finished putting the entire house back in order, having finished laundry, cleaning up the living room disaster that was Sam's mess, fixed his room up, and put everything back where it was, he took inventory of what all was missing. The list was made up on more that sixty things, and Morty was kind of pissed. Most of the baubles had belonged to his late grandfather, and his sister bought him the stupid shirts that were missing. 
       It was nearly nine in the morning when Morty finally glanced at the clock, hearing AJ stirring and knowing he couldn't go to bed if he wanted his 'AJ and Daddy' time before he went to work. He cherished his time with the kid, but this was the first time he'd gone completely without sleep. 

       "Mornin', kiddo," Morty greeted when AJ padded into the room, though he was surprised by the sudden knocks on the door. When he opened it, he was met by Mrs. Jenlin and another individual he'd never met before.

       "Good morning, Mr. Smith," the strange woman greeted. "I'm Maria Kellth." 
       "Mornin', kiddo, Morty," Mrs. Jenlin greeted almost shyly. Morty nodded, greeting them both respectively and shaking Maria's hand. "Morning. What brings you two out?" Morty tried to hide his yawn as best he could, looking back as he saw AJ run into the kitchen and grab a pack of poptarts from the small drawer below the counter. 

       "I'm just here to do a small interview, if you would. Mrs. Jenlin here has told me there are some issues?" The woman trailed off with a questioning tone and Morty sighed, letting them in. "There are no issues," he responded, shutting the door behind them. Honestly, how had he forgotten the woman was coming?
       Maria looked around the living room, nodding as though fairly impressed. "You do keep a tidy home. Do you live with anybody else?" Morty sighed, knowing he'd have to go through everything all over again.

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       God damn it. It was nearly 3:25 and the woman was still here?! For fuck's sake!

       Morty sighed, leaning against the wall as the woman asked AJ a series of questions. He'd already texted Gary and told him to say he'd be late because there was somebody over checking on AJ. 

       "Excuse me, um... Maria?" Morty spoke somewhat softly, being thankful she responded with a curious hum. "I think the only issue is my work hours," Morty stated, glancing at his watch. "I spend my mornings, and most of the afternoon, with AJ, so there's no problem there. But I work from four PM unti two AM." The woman furrowed her brow and checked her watch, her eyebrows going up. "Oh my goodness, I'm making you late, aren't I?"
       "Nah," Morty dismissed. "I already let them know I'd be late. Anything relating to AJ is worth a late mark," the brunet chuckled lightly at the end of his statement. 
       "Okay," Maria muttered, gathering all her papers and smiling but denying the Spongebob character offered to her by a polite AJ. "So you work odd hours?"
       Morty nodded, "I have Monday through Wednesday off completely, but the rest of the time it's four to two. I think that's what Mrs. Jenlin's issue is." The woman whom Morty had mentioned had long since returned home, but Morty would be seeing her shortly, as long as he was actually going to work today. "I see," Maria mumbled, writing something down. "Have you ever considered asking your boss to let you have your child with you?"
       Morty nearly died, coughing as he'd gone to speak too quickly while simultaneously sucking in a nervous breath. "Maria," he managed when he was finally able to speak, "I have to say my line of work is not suitable for a child of any sort."
       "And what is it that you do?"
       Morty sighed, running his hands down his face. He had to be honest. If he lied and they found out they would take AJ in a heartbeat, he was sure of it. "I'm a. . . bartender and dancer at club Schwifty's," he muttered, staring at the ground. It was Maria's turn to cough, staring in disbelief. "Well, you're certainly doing very well with a child on those hours. That must be exhausting, though. Are you sure you're able to manage?" Morty nodded, "I've gone this long. Honestly, I've got this." He tacked a chuckle on to his statement, checking the time once more. 4:03. Damn.
       "Well, I'll let you get going then, Morty," Maria commented, standing from her spot beside AJ and tucking her files beneath her arm. "Thank you for being so cooperative." She held her hand out to the brunet, but paused halfway through. "Oh! I almost forgot," she dug for a second in her file and removed a sheet of paper. "You need to have his other dad fill this out." 

       Morty stared from the paper, to AJ, to the paper, and then to Maria. The woman giggled lightly, "He really does love both of you." With that, she shook Morty's hand and wandered out of the house, driving off while Morty grumbled to himself, staring at the stupid paper. 

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       Morty finally made it to work closer to five, after setting it up to have Gene watch AJ at his apartment. Morty found humor in knowing the man lived in Morty's old apartment complex, just two floors above his old home. It was strenuous, especially with the child, but they managed.

       "Hey, Gary," Morty called the bouncer over once he'd made it to his station, going over the paper once more. He already had everything he had to write down on the paper. Apparently AJ's other 'role model' had to be on file for them to know about and look into. How fun would that be?
       "Yea," the bouncer responded with a grin. Morty already knew he and Gene were back together. Yesterday's conversation in the bathroom had been a tearful one, as Morty saw them leave with watery eyes hand in hand. 
       "Can you run this back to him?" Morty held the paper out and Gary looked at the brunet quizzically. "You know you can, right?" 
       "I just don't really want to," Morty muttered, going back to polishing glasses. "I was already late here, I don't wanna miss out on my bartending time," he tacked on when he saw Gary's expression. The bouncer shrugged, walking away with a 'sure, kid'. Morty sighed, watching as he made his way into the back room before he went around getting drinks for everybody. It was a long day, he already knew. He was absolutely exhausted, which was never good for his line of work, but Morty was Morty. He always persevered.

       When the brunet had - thankfully - made it through his shift just fine, no trip ups or anything - especially not on the pole, thank God - he was upset to find that he was included in a meeting that would normally have only consisted of bouncers, but Morty was a big part, too.

       Morty was greeted with a gathering of bouncers surrounding Rick who stood up on the stage, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth while they all chatted, waiting for the brunet. The chairs were already stacked, the place ready to shut down once this was over.

       "Alright," Rick addressed the crowd while Morty became part of it. "You all know there's something going on with Sam. He's been missing from the club, and nobody's really heard from him. I found out recently that he's got connections on the other side of town. That being said, I have instructions for all of you." Rick paused to take a drag while everybody settled their murmering. "If you see him, know where he might be, or happen across him when you're alone, tell me, or bring him here. I don't care what you gotta do, but this is too far. I took him in, I trusted him, and now I'm hearing news he's got a plan to bring us all down. Be it true or not, I don't play that shit. So, follow instruction, unless you wanna join him."

       "Hey hold on a minute," Gary called when everybody moved to leave, moving to the front of the crowd. He hopped up on stage once granted permission and looked around, eyes landing on Morty. "Kid, you live with him. Ain't he been home?"

       Morty scowled slightly, hating to have been called out like this. "I haven't s-seen him in a while. He-- He stole some stuff from me, valuable and important, but he hasn't b-bee-en home." 
       Gary groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh and shake of his head. "This ain't good," he grumbled, leaving the stage once he held a two second conversation with Rick. The bouncer handed a paper back to Morty, the brunet glad to see it was all filled out correctly before he made his way out to his car.

       Rick really didn't understand why he had to fill out the damn papers if Morty wasn't gonna let him around the kid again. Seriously, what was the point anymore? The stupid cat and mouse game they played was getting old.

       The man huffed, climbing into his own vehicle. He didn't want Gary driving him anymore. The bouncer asked too many questions for his liking. 

       While he watched the brunet take off into the night, Rick drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, hoping the brunet was able to take care of himself if Sam showed up.