It started like any other Saturday. The cloud cover was heavier than usual but aside for that, everything was normal. Beth was making breakfast in the kitchen, Summer was on her phone on the couch, Jerry was reading the newspaper at the dinner table. Too bad the newspaper was upside down, but he didn't notice. Jerries weren't very smart compared to the average person. Morty was walking down the stairs, pulled by the warm smell of pancakes and maple syrup. He had woken up to the inviting smell and threw on some clothes, hurriedly walking down the stairs with the promise of breakfast in his sights. Slipping past his mother, he snatched a ready pancake, stuffing it in his mouth so Beth wouldn't be able to grab it back.
"Morty!" she cried, "I just made that one, it's super hot honey."
Morty, realizing the error of his ways, felt his tongue go from barely awake to on fire to numb. He nearly cursed loudly but managed a small s-shit under his breath. Now the pancakes wouldn't taste like anything. Great.
"Honey drink some milk, it should help," Beth said with an affectionate smile. His mom was the best, really. She might have been an alcoholic, but at least she was a caring mom. He never understood how she stayed so happy all of the time, with Rick having left her and his grandmother when she was young. Now Rick was back, and Beth seemed happier than ever, even though some nights made her run to the red drink for comfort. But aside for that, she was happier. The flip side of that came to Jerry. Always bitching about something Rick did or something Beth said about Rick or how Summer said Rick was cool for doing something "sciency." Morty really thought his dad was full of shit, but he would never say that to his face. Jerry's emotional stability was dangling on the edge of collapse, and one small thing could set him off for a week long bout of moping. Beth was really reaching her limit, and everyone knew it.
Rick was where life got interesting. Morty looked up to him. It had been three years since his return home and Morty was dragged almost daily to go on an adventure with Rick. Rick never asked anyone else to come with him, which made Morty feel special. Morty never felt special, so when Rick just dragged him along on a silly adventure to find a small piece of metal that could "b-bend the rea - bend the reality of space a-and time, Morty!" he always felt a little tingle of being wanted. Maybe not in the way one should feel wanted by anyone, but it was something. Jessica wasn't returning his affections, so Morty decided to give up on that venture. It was a little hurtful but aside for that, Morty was doing fine. Rick and him were fairly close and he wouldn't have it any other way. Life was good, just like his mom's pancakes.
"Breakfast is ready, everyone. Come in here and take as much as you want," Beth called. Morty went up to get some fluffy pancakes and Rick suddenly appeared behind him, plate in hand and eagerness on his face. Rick smiled at Morty, and Morty didn't question how Rick had just appeared out of nowhere. He was used to it by now. Summer, though, was not.
"Grandpa Rick, how the hell did you just poof into existence like that?"
"Oh, honey, I was working on a device late last night and it shot out some liquid at me and it turned me invisible. The effects are gone now, don't worry." With that, he smiled at her and forked three pancakes onto his plate, kissing Beth on the forehead, thanking her for the meal. She smiled widely and told him that she loved making breakfast for her family. Morty's lips turned up slightly at that. His mom really was sweet. He found his seat and sat down with a plate of two fluffy pancakes in front of him. Maple syrup and butter were laid out on the table and they all dug in. Rick was eating slowly, which was a first. Morty looked up at him, with a mouthful of food, only to find Rick looking at him. Rick's eyes moved back to his plate, delicately forking a cut piece of pancake and swirling it in the puddle of maple syrup he made next to his pancakes. Rick's chair, Morty suddenly realized, was closer to his than it usually was. Beth was the one to break the silence and ask everyone about what they had planned today.
"Well, I-I-I think I'll be spending a day in and spending time with-with my grandson. How about a- how does a Two Brothers marathon sound? I heard they'll be giving a be-behind the scenes look on how they got the-the-the aliens to not destroy the prop world they had! What do you say, buddy?" Rick said. Morty had to look at him in silence. Not one burp or drunken slur. Just the typical stutter. Morty coughed before responding,
"Y-yeah Rick! Sounds *cough* sounds awe-awesome!" Morty smiled and Rick ruffled his hair playfully. Beth smiled adoringly at her two favorite boys getting along so well. Jerry just rolled his eyes and stabbed his pancake a little too angrily. Grumbling to himself, Jerry got up from the table and put his plate in the sink. Summer just snickered at her father's petty behavior. They all watched him go off to his office without a word. Rick smiled to himself and looked back at Morty, smiling a genuine, loving smile. Those were few and far between, really. Morty smiled right on back, looking up at his grandfather with the admiration he felt for him. Rick pulled his eyes away from his dopey little Morty and went back to eating. This was going to be a good day.
Several hours later and three Two Brothers movies later, and Rick and Morty were alone in the house. Summer had gone to the mall with her friends, but probably was out having sex or something. Jerry went off to go "explore nature" but was most likely eating ice cream somewhere, lonely and stupid. Beth went out to hang out with her surgeon friends. Rick and Morty were just home all day. Relaxing, for once. But Morty found it odd. They never just did nothing, and it was weird that Rick hadn't frantically jumped up remembering a whatever-from-wherever that could fix the something-from-somewhere. Morty looked at his grandfather and sighed.
"H-hey Rick?" he asked. He didn't want the moment to end, but something was off.
"Yeah, Morty?" Rick replied. Oh, how Morty wished he could just hang out with Rick all day. He looked into blue eyes and saw genuine interest in his questioning tone. Rick had turned his body to face Morty a little more, one arm over the back of the couch, one leg crossed over the other resting on the coffee table. Morty pulled on the hem of his shirt and chewed his lip. Puffing out a breath, he closed his eyes and looked back up to Rick, who now seemed concerned. His brow furrowed and his lips were parted, waiting for Morty to speak so he could ask his own questions.
"Why haven't we gone out yet? And why was mom being so happy, and everyone leaving you alone? Usually dad says something to you, but he didn't. And you just popped out of nowhere, and I don't buy that device spraying on you bullshit. What's going on?" Morty spit out, looking defeated. He didn't know why he was affected so badly by this, but he was. He looked at Rick expectantly, and the older man sighed. He moved closer to Morty, his breath smelling like the gum they had brought out, minty and fresh. He inched closer so his mouth was by the teen's ear.
"Listen Morty," Rick whispered, "we are in a fake reality. A-a-and I know it sounds- i-it sounds crazy, but this- all this isn't real, Morty." Rick rested his forehead on Morty's shoulder, waiting for Morty to reply, question - something. Morty just breathed. He then took a breath and replied, just as quietly as Rick had.
"So, what d-do you mean, Rick?" He asked. Rick moved closer, hand resting by Morty's thigh, close enough to barely ghost his thumb against the soft fabric of his sweatpants. "Morty, we are cu-currently in an Imbri Vehementi spaceship, c-coasting along the rings of Saturn." Morty slumped forward at this. Saturn? That was nothing compared to the countless other planets they have been to. Why were they in a fake world then?
"That-that sounds… like La-Latin or some-something," Morty whispered. Something about being this close to Rick felt familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He inched a bit towards Rick, their bodies extremely close now. He felt safe, even though they were being watched by some weird aliens. He didn't know why, but Rick felt like more than his friend. He felt like home. The house suddenly seemed off: the lights felt cold and the walls looked like they were grayer than usual, mom and dad and Summer never texted to tell them they were coming home… Morty realized that it was because they ceased to exist once they left the house. They were fake. Being so close to Rick had Morty wondering if even Rick was real, but he knew he was. He was so warm and all encompassing. If anything in this universe was certain, it was that Rick was real.
"Very good, Morty… it means 'sweeping changes' in L-Latin, it-it means that th-they sweep through- they sweep through your memories look-looking for information. They-they-they sweep through yo-your thoughts, Mort…" the elder whispered into the teen's ear. Morty breathed a little 'oh' of understanding and then began thinking of ways to escape. He came up with a blank slate, but he took comfort in the knowledge that Rick's mind was going a million miles an hour, looking for ways to get out of this place. Morty's eyes widened and he looked down at Rick's hand that had lightly held onto his thigh. Rick's right thumb was rubbing little circles on Morty's thigh where his hand held him. For some reason, Morty felt like this was the usual way things went.
"S-sorry, I know- I know they wiped your memory for the sim-simulation. They have us in these… these little pods wi-with these wires h-h-hooking up to our brain stems, Morty," Rick said quiet and low, "they did- they did a clean sweep for the simulation, Morty a-and they put in- they put in false memories, Morty. But-but-but once we get out of those- out of those pods, our memories will go back to normal." Rick turned to look up at Morty, eyes wide and… calm. Somehow. Morty nodded, looking down at the hand on his thigh. His breathing was wavering slightly. This felt right, but Rick was his grandfather for God's sake…
"Is this… what-what- is this what we usually do?" Morty asked. He obviously was confused but not too opposed to what was going on. Rick smiled and nodded. "Morty, we are f-from dimension MTX-1109… We aren't relat- you aren't my grandson. I never ha-had kids. But… you were given to me by a Beth - not mine - that couldn't-couldn't take care of you, Morty. You know all of thi-this out in the real world, babe. You and I, in the dimension wh-where we're from, we can be a-a-a couple and st-stuff…" Rick's eyes moved to Morty's little hand covering his. Morty was 17, and his birthday was soon, which made him almost a legal adult, in the eyes of most societies.
"W-we don't go around fucking ev-everywhere, and we keep PDA private…" Rick said, cautiously, like Morty might run away if he said something wrong. Rick was straightening up and was nearly face to face with his partner. Rick's lanky frame shadowed over the teen's like a blanket, comforting and warm. Morty was beginning to remember. Light touches and prolonged eye contact, simply for the chance to look at the other for an extra second. Glances over shoulders and lingering kisses in the dark. Flashes of memories flickered through Morty's eyes, and he remembered. He remembered. He began to lean forward into Rick's thin lips, only to have the older man's hand push him back lightly.
"We-we can't let them know we remember, Morty," Rick whispered against Morty's lips. Morty didn't realize how much he had missed Rick, but now that they were alone, why not fool around? Their cover was probably blown anyway. But Morty only nodded and looked at Rick, his eyes asking 'what do we do then?'
"We g-go out on an adventure… I ha-have to pretend I remem-remember something important. Okay, b-baby?" Rick said softly, brushing his thumb along Morty's thigh softly. The blue haired man gave a little smile, and leaned back, jumping up suddenly. He looked down at Morty one last time, giving him a little wink. Morty smiled and gave a fake sound of alarm, but it was pretty convincing, if you asked Rick.
"Wh-what Rick?" Morty asked, a smile nearly forming on his lips. He contained himself pretty well, if he might add. "M-Morty, we gotta- we gotta go find some Viltojums! They're su-super important for my wo-work, Morty!" Rick yelled as he grabbed Morty's shoulders. Morty just nodded and they ran off to the garage, Morty being held by the hand of a mad scientist. They jumped into the ship and pulled out of the dingy garage, flying up into the heavens. Morty looked over at his lover longingly, but forced himself to look away. He didn't want to give them away. Rick was feeling the same pull as Morty, but because of his years of experience in showing no emotion, he contained himself fairly well. He stole quick glances every once in a while, but he had to act the part of a grandfather. He could never understand why any Morty would become an item with their legitimate grandfather. Or why any Rick could sleep at night knowing they fucked their own grandson. He thanked his lucky stars that his Morty was by no way related to him. He was somewhat like Doofus Rick, in the sense that they both were not related to their Morties. It just makes any romantic relationship much easier to handle. Not only were they unrelated, but MTX-1109 Rick was significantly younger than most Ricks. He was in his mid forties while the other Ricks were in their sixties and seventies. He was happy that he wasn't too much of a pedo. But he did know in his dimension that any age (as long as the younger party were of the age of consent, which was 15) difference of a couple was accepted in normal society. He never did anything other than holding hands and forehead kisses with Morty in public, though. He made the P in PDA stand for Private. MTX-1109 Rick was a damaged soul. He lost his family as a young adult and when the Beth from his dimension gave him Morty, he knew he was meant to be in the kid's life as long as his own heart still had a beat.
After an hour or two of flying, Rick stopped at a random planet which he said would have a plethora of fruits, right as they landed. Knowing the simulation had to catch up and produce such things in a matter of seconds, Rick figured if he popped out as many types of fruits and animals as he could, he would break the system. Soon enough, after he listed nearly two hundred species of berries, fifteen varieties of birds, sixty species of cats, and a specific type of water that only existed in labs, the system began to break down. The frame rate was suffering, to say the least. Rick yelled out, triumphant.
"Stupid motherfuckers! Let us the fuck out, y-you got the wrong Rick and Morty, bitches!" He called into the sky. As soon as he finished, the sky turned a bright blue, like a lit up sign. Blinding and pulsing, the face of an alien with the face of an ugly ant and dragonfly hybrid appeared in the center of the sky. It said it was looking for the Rick and Morty of dimension MTX-1119. Rick scowled.
"That fucking dumbass?! He's over in the west quadrant of this dimension, you stupid bitch! Now let us out, we've been in here long enough!" Rick screamed. Upon finishing his sentence, the sky broke down into smaller and smaller pixels. The forest around them turned to dust and dissolved into the ground below them. Rick quickly turned over to Morty, quickly holding the teen's head in his hands and kissing him for a brief second before everything went black.