Morty hovered by the doorway to the garage, debating on wether or not he should enter. His grandpa seemed to have calmed down from his earlier nonsensical tirade, but Morty was still a little wary of his grandpa. He desperately needed to talk to Rick, but he wasn't sure if it was a good time. Rick was tinkering with that odd-shaped helmet that Morty had never been able to figure out.
His grandpa sighed, put down the helmet, and turned his chair to face Morty. "What do you want, Morty?"
"I-I-I-I just wanted to, to know something..." Morty trailed off, unsure of how to continue.
"Just spURPit out, geez," Rick grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Morty sighed. He didn't want to ask, but he needed to know. "Did you know you were going to be able to escape prison?"
Rick rolled his eyes. "Of course, Morty, why else would I have turned myself in?" he asked.
"The truth, Rick," Morty demanded firmly.
"What?"
"Tell me the truth," Morty repeated. "Did you know you were going to be able to escape prison?"
Rick sighed as his face fell, and the man suddenly looked about ten years older. He ran his spidery fingers over his face. "No, Morty. The code to switch my consciousness to another body was completely untested. I had no idea if it would work or not, or if I would even get the chance to try."
Morty stepped closer, eyeing his grandpa. "Then w-why did you leave?"
Rick sighed again, exasperated. "Because I overheard your dad talking, okay? I didn't want to be the reason your lives were ruined."
Morty's eyes glittered with unshed tears. "Y-you left me alone," he said softly.
"Like I said, I couldn't be the reason your life got ruined."
Morty sniffled. "I was nothing before you came into my life, Rick," he said sadly. "You could never ruin my life."
Alarmed, Rick stood up and grabbed Morty's shoulders. "You're not nothing, and you never were," he said.
A tear slid down Morty's face. "Ok... but I had no one," he admitted. "I-I-I was all alone, a-and you shouldn't have left me!"
By this point, tears were flowing freely, and Morty did nothing to stop them. Despite what he had said on that dwarf planet, his heart had shattered when he had realized Rick wasn't coming back.
"I thought you said you could handle it if I left," Rick reminded him.
"Yeah, well I say a lot of things I don't mean, kinda like you!" Morty shouted, breaking into a sob.
Rick put his arms around his grandson and held tightly. "Shhh," he said comfortingly. "It's okay. I'm here now, and I'm never gonna leave again."
"It's not okay," Morty argued. Nothing about what happened on the dwarf planet would ever be okay. "You're the smartest man in the universe! You should have figured something else out!"
"You're right," Rick said.
Morty wrapped his arms around him, returning the hug. "I need you," he said.
"You'll never loose me, buddy," Rick said. "I promise."