Hoping to have this finished for April fool's, but it'll proly be uploaded late and viewable on the 2nd. Learned a lot since I started this one, so my formatting is a little different. I may go through and re-edit past chapters to match, will see how time goes.

Chapter 20: Memories

"Everything fits when you tell your story
The blurry portraits in the halls of former lovers
Gone
But nothing was lost

You'll always be a part of me
You gave me a song to sing
Dancing in your room
Innocent and true
Elvis tattoo on your shoulder
We'll know better when we're older"

- The Midnight

[][][]

"So, uh, Deborah," Mordecai started, referencing the small slip of paper in his hand, "What do you do for fun?"

Already devouring the food left by the waiter, the tired woman across from him answered with a full mouth, "Oh, you know, anything really."

"Oh, cool. Did you see the sequel for Death Dead Again?"

Shaking her head, sending a barrage of crumbs across the table, "Nah, movies aren't really my thing."

Using the slip of paper, he brushed all the crumbs away from him, "Right."

Several minutes passed in this fashion, Mordecai asking questions and receiving answers in the negative. It wasn't until the check came that she showed any interest in something other than the food.

"Oh wow," she said while looking at her wrist, "Is it that time already?"

"Uh, you're not wearing a-"

"I forgot I got this thing to get to. Thanks for lunch, we should do this again sometime! Here, give me your number, my phone doesn't save calls."

A slow grin creeping across his face, he quickly scribbled down a number and handed her the napkin.

It took all he had to fight back laughter as she quickly fled out the door, 'Number four, a smashing success.'

Mordecai lifted his plate from the seat beside him and placed it on the table, his brain sensing the carnivore in front of him had given enough warning to save his stomach.

"Geez," Martin said as he sat across from him, "Was there a bear eating here?"

Mordecai scoffed and cut his cheeseburger in half, "A bear would have better eating habits."

Martin chuckled and grabbed several napkins from the dispenser and started dabbing at his grease and oil soaked hands, "Soooo, is there wedding bells in the air?"

Mordecai, having far better manners than Deborah, swallowed his food and shook his head, "Nah, not really my type. Gave her your number though."

Martin looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Kidding. I gave her Rigby's."

They both burst out laughing, attracting a few curious glances from everyone else in the populated diner. Martin was gasping for breath as he started slamming his hand on the table.

"Oh man, I haven't laughed like that since I was a little girl."

Mordecai wiped tears from his face and took another bite, leaving manners behind.

"So, what're you up to, grease monkey?"

Martin sighed and set the greasy napkins aside, "Running through the rainbow meadow because a girl I liked in high school has bad taste in men."

Mordecai nodded, "Sounds about right."

The glass doors swung open, the squeaky return pump being loud enough to notice from their table.

"Hey, Mordecai," Martin said while leaning around him, "You have another date?"

Shaking his head, he set the burger down, "No, why?"

Martin chuckled, "Good."

Mordecai turned and looked near the entrance, seeing Caroline walk up to the counter and begin looking over the menu.

Keeping emotion from appearing on his face, he shrugged, "Go for it."

Martin had been leaning aside so much that he fell out of the booth and into a nearby table, causing the chairs to rattle around loudly enough to gather the attention of everyone else who didn't hear them laughing.

Springing to his feet, Martin raised his hand and waved to Caroline, "Hello."

Seeing the confused look on her face, Mordecai broke out in laughter again, struggling to speak as Martin sat back down.

"Smooth move, Casanova."

Martin mumbled and began looking at the menu.

"Thought that laugh was familiar," Caroline said before shifting her sight to Martin, "How's the face?"

"It's okay about my face, it don't hurt much."

Catching the reference she smiled, "Good to see you're at least a cultured imbecile, Mr. Cry-Baby."

Martin shrugged, "I likes what the ladies likes."

"Yeah, I'll bet."

Mordecai burst into another short fit of laughter, "Ohhhh, burn!"

"Anyway," she said turning back to Mordecai, "Eileen's outside waiting. We're grabbing some food and hitting the park, if you've got nothing better to do."

Glancing toward Martin, "I see you don't."

Sighing, Mordecai opened his wallet and tossed down money for the bill before sliding out of the booth.

"Take it sleazy."

Martin waved and turned back to his menu, "You know it."

"What'll you have," a tired sounding waitress asked.

"Coffee."

Grabbing the pot from the counter, she filled his glass and walked to the next table, refilling any empty glasses she seen.

After making it to the third page, his phone beeped. Pulling it from his pocket, he swiped on the screen and read the text while he waited for the images to load.

'Since you're not answering our calls, we're sending a decrypted message. This is from the boss himself, retired or not, we expect you to answer the call next time.'

Martin shook his head and scrolled down through the images. The first one was the image of an early model Cadillac sedan, white pearlescent paint and chrome factory size wheels with white wall tires. Looking over the background, he seen the siding of a blue house and older wooden garage door. Zooming in to look at the small sticker on the rear window, he nodded.

'Aftermarket alarm.'

The next picture was of the inside of the garage, a dimly lit room with a workbench and tools on the left, and a ratty green riding mower on the right. The seat was up on the mower and the battery terminals hung over the side as if the battery was missing.

The image was mainly focused on the words painted onto the wall, 'Tanks Jacob, you smeeel. Mordey and Riggs.'

Martin was in mid sip of his coffee and he froze when he seen the names. Looking at the image for several moments, he quickly shrugged the names off.

'Couldn't be.'

Setting his coffee down, he went to the next image. A typical black briefcase with a combination lock sat open, its contents billowing a bright and golden light out, making it nearly impossible to see inside.

Martin squinted and his eyes finally made out the object, causing his mouth to drop open in wonder.

The text above the last image read, 'These are the culprits. Do not let us down again.'

He scrolled down and the black and white image of Mordecai and Rigby celebrating over an arcade victory cause him to spill his coffee.

"Hey!" he yelled as he dashed from his seat and ran out the front door.

[][][]

"So," Margaret said as she tapped a button on the register, "This is how you split the check into different amounts."

Rigby nodded, "Ok, sounds simple enough."

"Great," she said as she moved on to the next entry in the training manual.

Martin and Mordecai appeared at one side of the large glass window in front of the diner and were sprinting toward the front door. Swinging it open, Mordecai tried to bust in right as Martin did and they both got stuck in the doorway, struggling for a moment before tumbling inside.

Margaret and Rigby froze and looked in their direction, as did the few people residing in the booths near the door. Sensing something intense about to happen, they grabbed their plates and moved farther along the back wall to another table.

Standing up, they straightened their shirts and casually walked to the counter.

"Hey Martin, long time no see," Margaret said.

"Hey Margie."

Mordecai gave him a strange look to which he just shrugged.

"What can I get you?"

"Actually," Mordecai began, "We need to borrow Rigby for a bit."

"They're gonna murder me and dump my body in the woods!" Rigby whispered to Margaret.

"Well, he just started his shift," she said, stopping while Rigby whispered in her ear, "It wouldn't look good on his record if he-"

Mordecai reached over the counter and grabbed Rigby by his shoulders and pulled him forward.

"They know about the car!" he hissed, "They want the briefcase and they're coming to get us!"

Rigby's jaw dropped, "How?!"

Martin showed him the messages in his phone as well as the images.

"Who sent that to him?!"

"There's no time," Martin said, putting his phone back in his pocket, "We have to get that briefcase if you two want to have any chance of making it out of this."

Rigby thought for a second, "So, you're really not gonna kill me when we get out there?"

"Stop giving me ideas and let's go!"

Rigby looked past a worried and confused Margaret to where the boss was sitting at his desk, "Uh, sir, something came up, can I have the rest of the day off?"

Glancing out at the nearly empty tables, he waved his hand and looked back to his novel.

"Let's go, we have everything we need, just have to pick up the truck."

As they started away, Margaret called out to them, "Is something bad going to happen to you guys?"

Rigby turned back, doing his best to force a casual face, "Of course not, everything's A-Okay."

Martin leaned over the counter and slipped her a napkin with a number written on it, "If we're not back tomorrow, call this number from a payphone and say 'Shoot the Moon'."

"Is this something like when we were in school?"

Martin sighed, "I don't know yet. Just wait until tomorrow and call."

She looked at the number for a moment before nodding and sliding it into her apron.

[][][]

"Okay," Martin said as he slammed the trunk of the Skyline closed and spread out the map, "You two know where the car is, you'll be in front. Now-"

Rigby raised his hand and shook his head, "If it's alright I'll ride in back with you."

Mordecai nodded, "Good Idea."

"Whatever," Martin sighed, "Whoever's in front, when we're a mile away, about here-"

Pointing at a location called Cooper's Falls, he continued, "You'll turn off all the lights in the car. Head lights, taillights, even the radio. Don't use your brakes to slow down, that'll turn the lights on. Instead, keep the RPMs low and engine brake. We'll use the winch on the truck to pull the car out of the river and if we need to we'll jimmy the trunk open."

"Before we start," Rigby said, holding up his hands, "Tell me how you know all this."

Mordecai gave a quick nod.

"I worked for these guy's in high school, Fun Co. Inc., and the guy you stole the car from, Jacob, was looking after something that belonged to the boss."

"The briefcase," Mordecai said, more to himself.

"Yes. I don't know what they need it for, but if that case is in your possession, your chances of making it out of this alive are doubled."

"This is seeming like a double-cross."

"If you think we'd beat you senseless and leave you in the woods, we don't need the case for that," Mordecai said without turning to look at him.

"Oh really," Rigby began, "If that's the case-"

"Girls, stop fighting. We can argue all you want when he have that case," Martin shouted, folding the map back up, "Now, it's a long drive and I'm losing the will to go through with it."

Kind of a quick chapter, just wanted to show I didn't forget about it.

Thanks for reading and thanks for everyone who's been patiently waiting for this to be continued.