With No Rick to Go

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He was so bored.

The plasma screen sat before them. He tried not to look at the family yelling about some guy choosing a fake wife, but he couldn't deny that the show seemed so much worse than the real thing.

The television should mean fantasy, looking at the lives of others, being a fly on the wall - not a poor copy of their own disorders, the world's own monotony.

Rick's foot tapped rhythmically up and down, his cheeks felt tight. Then almost without a conscious thought, he picked up his interdimensional cable box, breaking Jerry's in the process.

"Hey!" The man cried.

Morty leaned forward with a grin. "Oh, cool! Is that crystallized Zanthonite? It conducts electrons across dimensions."

Rick shook his head. "Twenty percent accurate, as usual, Morty. The important thing being I just upgraded our cable package with programming from every conceivable reality."

He flicked through a few channels, sneered at a guy eating shit, and was stopped by Jerry and Beth.

"That was Jerry as David Letterman." Beth spoke in wonder.

"How is this possible?"

Rick sighed. "Infinite timelines, infinite possibilities. Including a timeline where Jerry's a movie star. Look, you guys are getting excited about the wrong aspect of this device."

They didn't seem to listen, too engrossed in the television.

Once more, he sighed. He didn't just leave boredom to watch Jerry on TV. That was fucking boring.

"Now who wants to watch random, crazy TV shows from different dimensions... and then who wants to narcissistically obsess about their alternate self?"

"I want to obsess about myself." Jerry muttered.

"The narcissistic stuff." Claimed Beth.

Rick pulled out his goggles. "Here. These scan your retinas, and let you view parallel time lines through genetically matching versions of your eyes." Throwing in the kitchen, he watched Beth and Jerry get up like dogs. "Go fetch!"

"Yes! This is so cool!"

"Ladies First!"

Rick smiled at the remaining Smith upon the couch. "I'm proud of you, Morty."

The boy just shook his hands. "Hey man, I don't give a crap about myself, Rick."

"Let's watch some crazy stuff, yo!"

Rick clicked over on the remote and a man, who strangely resembled Mr. Poopybutthole, stood at some sort of warehouse. "I'm Ants-In-My-Eyes Johnson, Here at Ants-in-My-Eyes Johnson's Electronics. I mean, there's so many ants in my eyes! And there's so many TVs, microwaves, radios.. I think, I can't... I'm not 100% sure what we have here in stock, because I can't see anything."

Rick snorted at the idiot. "Holy, shit. Summer would love this."

There was some silence, neither man nor teen listening to the television. It was Morty who sat up first. "Where is Summer?"

Rick shrugged. "She's probably in the garage. I bought her a lab coat like mine and I let her make her own portal gun."

"You let her make her own portal gun?"

Rick shrugged. "Once she- eurp- knew how to- how to make it, there was no stopping her. But yeah, she's probably in there gushing over it. You know how teenage girls are."

Another moment of silence passed. Morty still seemed a little spaced out. But Rick thought nothing of it. Morty had always been a nervous wreck. He'd tell him a pencil broke, and the boy would be shitting bricks.

"Do you think she's angry?"

Rick muted the television then, not sure where this conversation was going. "Angry about what?"

"When you were, you know, out last night, Summer came home late from her friend Janice's house. I guess- I guess dad was pretty angry, and mom said it was normal. They started arguing and-"

"They were yelling about the abortion weren't they?"

"You know about that?"

"Yeah, Morty. It isn't hard to find the source of your parents' stupid arguments. That's why Summer exists in like 4000 realities compared to billions."

"Aww, geez, Rick. I'm going to make sure she's okay."

"You do that." The man muttered, not fully worried about the situation.

Morty nodded and left, but it wasn't until two minutes later that he shrilled at the top of his lungs. "Oh no!"

"Morty!" Rick stood, running into the garage, finding the boy desperately clinging to thin air.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He hissed.

"Summer's gone!"

"What? What do you mean she's gone?"

"She just left, Rick. She went through the portal and I tried to grab her, but…." The boy trailed off, going rigid, and putting his knees to his chin.

"Morty." Rick called, the boy still would not move. With a fast crouch, he tapped the boy's face. Still, he did not move or blink. The boy was probably in shock.

"Shit." Standing, the scientist walked over to a tray which held Summer, his, and Morty's hairs.

His actions were quick.

"Summer Smith; earth dimension C-137; age 17; status; alive. Showing Summer's memories for…."

"Last night." He muttered.

The image that appeared showed Summer in the bathroom. "No." He whispered, leaning forward.

The only thing that allured his gaze was the flash of shiny silver. The razor blade.

"Christ, no. Don't, Summer. No. No. No. Don't do it, Sum." He begged the memory.

All he could see were the fading scars on her arm, purple and pretty. The silk that dropped from the thunder clouds, vapor mixed with electric sparks coursing through the seas.

All he could hear were the yells in the back. Beth and Jerry, somehow skewing away from Summer being out late to Summer being the problem.

"I didn't ask for this, Beth! I wanted a life of my own! I wanted to be happy! Now I'm stuck with a woman who loves me when she's down and two kids who respect their drunken grandfather more than me!"

"You don't want this? Pretty hard to tell when you're the one who brought fate into getting an abortion! You're the one who made all this unhappiness possible!"

Summer pushed the razor deep in her skin, moving across it like a boat on whistling waves.

Rick fell back, covering his face as she moved the razor up and repeated it. This time faster. This time harsher.

They gasped together and he felt so sick about the blood that spewed over her skin.

The dark red blood made its way out of her body, oozing between the spaces between her fingers as Summer gripped her slashes with a shaky hand.

The memory grew hazy, signalling that Summer's own vision during the memory became blurrier.

She clutched her stomach as if the wound was there, but the blood only turned her pink shirt scarlet.

"Grandpa." She called desperately, but she was quiet as she swayed in jagged motions.

Beth was still screaming about how unhappy she was and Jerry cut her off with his own scream.

"It was a mistake! If I'd known it would be this messed up, I would have carried you to that abortion clinic myself!"

Summer collapsed. The memory went dark.

Spinning the dial, the man waited patiently for something to show up, almost sighing in relief as it appeared again. She woke up with the heavy sighs, the blood on her arm now a maroon going on black.

"How long was she unconscious in there?" He whispered to himself. Did no one bother to check the downstairs bathroom all night? Did her parents even go into her room after their argument?

Summer grunted for some time, disoriented and confused. She looked down at her fresh cuts upon her arm, and Rick sighed when the sounds of silent crying filled the void.

Everything was perfect. Everything was great….and once again the problem appeared. No matter how happy Summer seemed to be, there was an underlying sadness to her.

No matter what, Summer would always be broken. It didn't matter how good she had it. Depression found a way to make every situation hopeless.

Everything in her world must have been falling apart. And all she could do was stare blankly.

He watched as the girl stood and left her mess on the bathroom floor. With a stumble, she made her way out, her vision blurring from the loss of blood.

There were some pleas coming from the living room and Summer peaked in, watching everyone before the television.

He noticed the same idiotic bachelor show they'd been watching and his stomach dropped.

His and Summer's rooms were downstairs. They basically shared that bathroom. And all night, Summer lay on the floor unconscious, Rick never stepped foot in there.

She probably felt so hurt and alone.

Without another glance, the girl moved to the garage. She hastily slipped into the lab coat Rick bought her. And Rick grimaced as she nearly fell back from dizziness and the blood that stained her sleeve.

Going into his safe, she grabbed her own portal gun and a pistol, looking away as she put in some coordinates. She moved to the portal that opened. Just as she was about to step in, a small voice stopped her.

"Summer? What's going on?"

She turned to Morty and the boy gasped. "Why's there blood on you? Why are you crying?"

"I'm sorry, Morty."

"No!" Rick called as she ran into the portal.

She was gone. She was wounded. She was missing. She was alone.

"No." He whispered, putting his face into the garage floor.

Summer's memory went blank and Rick growled. But really, he didn't feel angry. Just alone. Like always.

In that moment, he swore that nothing in the universe could be so heavy as the absence of Summer.

His little Summer, so much like the season to him, lighting the scenery with pastel old shades, mixing with the vibrant emerald shades of the grass.

Jerry's laughter echoed through the house and Rick's face turned, his eyes serious and lips dampened.

Standing, the man stormed to the kitchen. With brute force, he yanked his goggles from Jerry's face.

"What the hell, Rick? I was snorting with Johnny Depp."

With as much force as he could, the man slammed the goggles on the floor. It appeared to fall with the grace of snow, yet in truth it was more of a wild avalanche and just as deadly.

"Get your shit together." He hissed. "Both of you. Just because you made past mistakes doesn't mean you blame your children for it. You don't get to enjoy other lives. Make this one right."

With that, he stormed away, grabbing his gear.

"Dad, what's going on? What's wrong with Morty?" Beth crouched before her frozen child, tapping his face. "Morty. Oh god."

Jerry frowned, his gaze steady as Rick placed two pistols in his waistband. The old man moved over to the counter, grabbing a tracking device and his portal gun. "Where are you going? You can't just yell at us and run!"

"Summer's gone, dumbass. I don't have time for this?"

"What, Summer's gone? Where? Rick, what's going on?"

Beth stood in false anger, concealing her fears. "Dad, answer him. Where is our daughter?"

"So now you- eurp- care about her?" His question was harsh, his voice filled with so much venom that Beth moved back in a way that she'd been stabbed.

He sighed. "Look I don't know where she is. All I know is that she's hurt and I have to find her. No one's going to get her if I'm alive."

"You don't know where she went. How could you find her?"

Rick held up a tracker. "This. When Summer made her portal gun, she placed a tracking magnet in hers. I'll find her."

Rick said nothing about it. "I'll get by the nearest dimensions and see what I find. Don't worry. Summer's not going to end up in any dangerous place."


Summer coughed as she opened her eyes. The sun was so bright, the heat unbearable.

Red.

Red was all she could see.

The planet had a sandy surface. Like blood, but not the vivid red of the freshly spilled, but more the browning red of old blood.

The girl crouched down. "Red sand? I thought this was only in games. Portal, where am I?"

The portal gun flashed a bright red. "We are in dimension F-1019, planet Thry, population; 0. 24 light years from home."

Summer sighed. Even her dimension picking wasn't lucky. Still, she smirked at the fact that the population was zero. No intelligent species meant no problems.

All she had to do was find a nearby home. Or maybe find another dimension. More earthly.

"Yeah." She smiled. She didn't know if she would ever return home, but her new one should be like it. She was ready to start anew. "More earthly."

The girl once again pulled out her portal gun, scrolling through dimensions.

However, there was a gurgling sound that stopped her. Standing, the teen turned, only to freeze, and for the smile to dissipate.

She didn't know what she'd expected to face when she turned, but this was the opposite.

It was narcissism to think for a second that whatever was walking to her would be humanoid and absolutely delusional to think that it would be like anything from earth.

By the way it noticed her, it was apparent that it was a sentient, intelligent being. Yet, it had nothing that could be recognized as any form of nervous system.

"The fuck?" She whispered. The thing was almost zombie like, the way it gurgled and swayed to her slowly. "Don't come any closer." She stated.

And still, it came closer and closer. Summer couldn't believe it. It was some form of a Zombie. And it looked like a girl.

The thing didn't need bulk, her muscles were many times stronger than her Summer's, not to mention that Summer was still weak and dizzy from blood loss.

It was little more than a wisp of a creature with diminutive limbs and still took down the meal of it's choice each dawn. It's skin was wrinkled like a dried prune and thick like leather; bimodal with long arms and a small head with an elongated muzzle like a wolf.

In it's jaws were inch long teeth, serrated like a steak knife. It snarled at Summer and inched even closer.

Summer pulled out her pistol slowly. "Stay back." It did not stop, only inched closer.

Summer shot at what appeared to be a shoulder, but the being kept coming, now in fury from the shot. "What the hell is this, a zombie movie."

Aiming between it's eyes, she shot and the thing finally went down. He shook for some time, spazzing in crazy directions before dispersing like a combusted grenade, spreading onto the read sand.

Summer's head tilted in mild confusion. When the being died, he'd exploded. No blood, no draining, just….. she gasped softly, reaching down to touch the sand.

"Oh god." She muttered. It wasn't red sand.

This whole surface was made of ashes.

"Portal gun, tell me about this planet. Why's the population zero?"

The portal gun once again flashed a bright red. "Planet Thry was once a prosperous planet. However, 1000 years, 25 months, four days, two hours, and 26 seconds ago…"

Summer rolled her eyes as the device continued. "A major outbreak of this planet's pylothosis virus caused more than half of it's intelligent species to turn. This resulted in a major war, causing the last of the intelligent species to flee, leaving the inferior life forms of what you call ZOMBIES."

Summer cursed, finally looking around.

She saw it, saw it all at last: the rolling armies and the flames of battle; the graves and pits and dying cries of a hundred million souls; the spreading darkness, like a black wing stretching over the earth…death's great dominion over all, and, at the last, empty cities, becalmed by the silence of a thousand years.

She stared at the red ashes. This apocalyptic dimension had to hold the largest graveyard she'd ever seen.

Just the sound of gurgling, made the teen raise her pistol. With nothing in sight, but a small town up ahead, her brows were raised.

"Huh?"

Some gurgling behind her and the girl spun on her heels, almost freezing at the sight.

A mass of them. Zombies, monsters, whatever. They were running for her, jagged legs, the speed of race cars. Running for her. Summer gasped and turned, running for her life.

"Help!" She screamed, but there was no one. If she could just make it into town without wasting the last of her four bullets.

Her head pulsed with a tremor and she hissed as the pain in her arm took over. "No." She moaned.

The sounds of grunts and moans were closing in. Something grabbed her leg, making her trip.

The portal gun she'd been running with crashed onto the sand, shattering into tiny pieces.

"Noooooo!"

The zombies pounced. Not biting but, pulling and scratching at her skin. It hurt and stung so much.

A shot rang out and a red flame, maybe a flare, sped past her.


Rick smiled. Summer was just three and a half hours away. He'd be to her location in no time. "Don't worry, Sum- what the hell?"

Her portal gun tracker disappeared, signalling that it had been shattered. Was she in trouble? Where did she end up?

Dismissing his negative and fearful thoughts, the man sighed, choosing instead to look at the twelve planets of dimension F-1019.

All of the were aligned in a perfect circle. All of them were three and a half hours away

Summer could be on any of them since they were bearable. He needed to hurry for her. But the only way he could do that was old fashioned tracking.

Grabbing his phone, the man dialed two numbers. Ones he hadn't used in a while now that he had Summer.

"Squanchy, Birdperdon…." He inhaled sharply as he clutched Summer's photo. "It's urgent. It's so important." He whispered.


When the flare was shot, the beings scratching at her skin stood dysfunctionally and followed it, snarling and pushing one another one the way.

"You okay?" The voice was soothing, and yet Summer reached for her pistol.

The beings must have been scratching so hard that they spread her self-wounds open even more. Whoever saved her crouched low, holding her still.

"Hey, hey, hey. You're okay." Whoever it was held her still and soothingly. "You're okay. You just have to be careful."

Her eyes opened, finding a boy with shaggy blue hair, like Rick's, and soft eyes, like Morty's. He removed his jacket, wrapping her arm.

"Why?" She muttered, her conscious running away and returning every minute.

He smiled softly at her wounds. Somehow, he didn't her need to elaborate. "I guess... I guess once you get to used to things, every life is sacred to you. I guess to me, you're pretty important."

Summer smiled too, letting the darkness hug her, holding her and keeping her safe.


When her eyes opened, she still saw the red sky.

Still felt the red ashes.

Still heard the distant gurgles of the beings that wanted her dead.

Still smelled the death and blood and sadness of a thousand years.

Still tasted her own blood in her mouth.

"What?" She whispered.

"Easy there." It was the same voice that rocked her to sleep and Summer found herself going easy.

They were quiet for some time. Summer distracted by her wounds that stopped bleeding and the strange boy distracted by her.

"You're human? From earth aren't you?" He eventually asked.

She said nothing, still not trusting anything around her. Her grandpa's words rang through her like a jolt of lightening.

You trust anyone too much, Summer, and it's going to backfire. Don't fuck up out here, baby. They'll eat you alive.

The boy smiled, sweet and soft, with a shake of his head. "I'm Aiden by the way." He grabbed her healthy arm and placed a light metal in it. "I went back for your gun."

She still said nothing, only staring. Because somehow, staring became easier and he was just too nice to not trust.

"Hey, if you don't want me around, I'll go. But I'll tell ya, you might meet me again." He smirked. "World seems to get smaller closer to the end."

Summer fought the urge to laugh at his satirical humor. "I'm sorry." She whispered hoarsely.

Aiden put up a finger. "Hold that thought." As gentle as he could be, the teen lifted her head and put a water bottle to her mouth. Drinking the contents with hunger, the girl coughed.

"Easy there, tiger. One prey at a time."

"I'm sorry. It's just you look….you have my grandfather's hair color. And you have my brother's eyes."

Aiden smiled. "I hope that they have good memories in you. I hope I didn't bring back some heavy stuff."

"No. No. You're fine. Those are the two most important people in the world to me."

Another flashy smile that Summer never missed. "Awesome."

The guy seemed trusting. He didn't ask Summer much and she didn't he. He continued making sure her arm was alright and she continued thinking about her grandfather's lesson.

Summer, if it looks too good to be true, maybe it is.

"So what made you come here?"

His inquiry made her tense up. Why did it matter anyway? She didn't know him. He could be a threat. But he'd saved her life. And his soft eyes were too trusting.

"Why does that matter?"

A shrug with a blush. "I don't know. I...I guess you looked like you were running."

She glared. "I was running. Those pack of zombies were coming after me."

"No. I guess you just looked like you were running from something before that. Like you were sad."

"Well I wasn't so don't be pushy." The stubborn girl hissed.

An awkward silence passed between them before she sighed. What was her problem? Even in another dimension, she still had the tendency to fuck things up.

"Look. I'm sorry. This just isn't the place I wanted to end up. No offense."

Aiden smiled softly. "None taken."

"I was running. I just wanted out."

"Out of what exactly?"

Without a doubt, hesitation, or heartbeat, Summer told him. She told him how she'd ruined her parent's lives because of her birth. Told him that they were all unhappy because of her. Told him that she tried to kill herself more than once. Told him how much she hated herself for what her parents made her realize.

She hated all of her. She was a disaster. She told him that she couldn't fathom why her baby brother, the only light left, appreciated her the way he did. Told him that her grandfather was trying to save her life even when he knew it wasn't working.

She told him everything. She was alone. Utterly alone and broken. And by herself, she had to see through it.

Aiden asked her how this was all her fault and why she had to sacrifice happiness for them. He asked her why she had to run when it was her parents running her whole life.

Summer sobbed. "Because, Aiden, sometimes running away is the heroic thing to do. In a way, I'm saving them. They'll be happy without me. I'm just a burden."

She wiped her face roughly, feeling stupid for even crying before anyone.

"You want to know something about the future, Summer? You want to know what I think's going to happen on your running?"

"What?"

Aiden smiled softly. "Someday, someone's going to love every inch of you- sunset on your eyes, moonlight in your hair, the sadness nestled into the creases of your palms. They're going to kiss all the parts you kept hidden and tell you how beautiful it is.

Someone's going to tell you they love you, Summer. All of you. And not just the parts that make sense. The parts they won't even understand yet."

The declaration made Summer's mouth open and her head tilt. And the memories coursed through her every being.


Summer grabbed hold of her younger brother as he clutched his eye. "What happened, Morty?" The eight year old asked in sympathy.

Still, her five year old brother would not stop whimpering and whining and clutching at his eye.

With a small growl, she grabbed her brother's hand, the one he used as a cover, and yanked it away, eliciting a small gasp and cry.

"Morty, what happened to your eye? Who did this?"

The boy lifted his finger, pointing in the vast space of the elementary school play yard and directly toward a boy who stood laughing with a few others.

Each boy took a turn throwing the ball and Summer's eyes narrowed.

"He hit me in the face and took my ball." Morty stated, in a way almost mischievously. As if he knew what Summer would do.

She recognized the bully. His name was Frank and he was in her class. He was never mean to her, but to even look at her baby brother wrong was a sin.

Standing with her hands tightened, she walked away. "Wait here, Morty."

She stood behind Frank in a flash and tapped his shoulder. He stared and smiled. "What's up, Summer?"

"Give me back my brother's ball." She muttered with menace.

His eyebrows raised. "What?"

She grit her teeth. "I said give me back my brother's ball. You hit him and took it."

The eight year olds stared each other down for some time. Eventually the bully smirked. "No-"

She punched him as soon as she heard no. And she kept punching. Until he stumbled backward. Until Morty's ball flew from his hands. Until her third grade teacher pulled her off of him.

Later, Summer, Frank, and Morty would be sent home early.

"There was a better way you should have handled that situation, sweetie." her father softly scolded as he strapped both his children in. "Violence solves nothing."

She glanced at her little brother, snuggled against her, ball held tight against his stomach, a small smile on his face, and not a care about the bruise on his face.

"Love you, Summer." He mumbled under his breath.

Their father was still talking. "Remember kids, violence solves nothing."

But with Morty so happy, she begged to differ. "Yeah it does."

Jerry just sighed.


Aiden turned his head too. "What's wrong?"

Everything, she wanted to say. But even that felt wrong.

"I…I have to go." She said standing.

"Wait...what? You can't go. There's a swarm of zombies that way. You can't go."

Aiden walked forward, but Summer on instinct raised her pistol. They stared shocked at one another, before she sighed and lowered the gun.

"I'm sorry. I just….my brother loves me and I'm selfish if I leave him."

Aiden nodded softly. "I apologise. It's your life. Do what you want. But you're still wounded, and I don't want you dying on me."

Still, she turned around. "I'm sorry, Aide-ahh." He'd tackled her, effortlessly tying her hands behind her back.

"What are you doing?"

All in one motion, Aiden's blue hair turned brown, and his eyes, once soft, grew narrow. When he spoke, his voice wasn't soothing.

"I told you, Summer. You can't go." He stood smiling. "I haven't eaten in a long time. Last guy from earth was too scrawny, but you...good, you must be delicious."

Summer gasped, trying to move her hands. "You're going to eat me?"

The alien smirked. "Not yet. I kind of like you. I'm going to break you first."

He raised his foot and for a full half-minute, she watched it come downward at a speed that constricted her throat so that she could hardly draw breath.

She didn't feel when his boot slammed on her face. She was already out.


Rick frowned as he crouched down, gathering the parts of Summer's portal gun.

While Scaunchy and Birdperdon were busy killing Planet Thry's ancient species, he spoke.

"This is where she must have dropped her portal gun. And I see some droplets of blood. Maybe from her arm. You think you can track this, Scaunchy?"

The zombies ceased for some time. "Birdperson feels that tracking will not be necessary."

He stood over a spot on the ashes. A dent trail.

Rick grimaced, attempting to ignore how his stomach dropped. "Someone must have dragged her. About two hours ago."

"Well, I hope it was someone squanch enough to heal her."

Birdperson's wings spread out. "Get on. Birdperson will follow the trail while flying."

And they set off, Rick praying that his baby girl was still in one piece.

But she wasn't. When they had reached a small cabin, the only sound was screaming.

A dark voice within the cabin laughed. "Calm down, Summer. This'll be quick. I'm not the kind of thing to touch people sexually. I just needed your clothes off because it's easier to cut you that way."

"No please. Please don't." A loud smash and Summer's own screaming echoed through the vicinity.

It tore through Rick like a great shard of glass. It was desperate, terrified... human. And he inhaled sharply, kicking the door in.

The reason Summer had screamed was because her kidnapper had smashed her fingers with a hammer.

But by the looks of it, he did more. He'd stabbed her in the stomach more than once. The leg that he didn't tie down was twisted in the most disgusting way. Her was was bloody and bruised up.

And to worsen the feeling in his stomach, this piece of shit had stripped Summer from head to toe, leaving her underwear on.

"You motherfucker." with his vision blurred, he shot the thing in it's head. It didn't die quickly, however. It turned.

It almost resembled a werewolf. His teeth, eerily incandescent, emitted a strange blue glow and were as sharp as a fine diamond sword. His skin was mostly scar tissue and he shivered. What fur there had been was tufty and thin, providing no protection to the elements at all. His eyes bulged and Rick shot him again and again and again and again. He didn't stop until he had no bullets.

And with it gone, he dropped the pistol, running over to the weeping Summer and untying her.

"Search the rest of the cabin." He told his friends. But really, he needed time with his granddaughter. And they knew that.

While he untied her, Summer said nothing. She didn't move a muscle. Grabbing her off the makeshift bed, the man covered her in his own lab coat, not caring if it got bloody.

With diligence and concern for her, he grabbed his pure serum, applying it to her face, stomach, leg, arms, and crushed hand.

He watched it all clear and heal, before wrapping her all the way in the coat. "Summer." He whispered.

Before she could apologize, he fell back a bit when she hugged around his neck and cried.

And he didn't want to stop her. He didn't want her to see that he was crying too.

And it really hurt. How much Summer wanted to die. How much she hated herself.

He cried as if the ferocity of it might bring her to loving herself; as if by the sheer force of his grief the memories would be undone.

Summer was was his, his only light and the world tried to kill her. Even Scaunchy and Birdperdon halted in another room as they heard his crying.

Rick rocked her back and forth, hoping that she would understand.


"I'm not going back." Summer whispered as Rick opened a portal for Scaunchy and Birdperdon. She watched them leave to their respective locations. "I can't go back."

Rick turned to her, his eyes red and tired. "What?"

Still, she shook her head. "No one's going to miss me, I'm a burden, grandpa."

Rick sighed. "Don't be stupid. No matter how much they talk shit, your parents love you. Morty isn't even loyal to them as much as he is you. You're a good to the kid."

"And you? Would you miss me if I killed myself or ran off?"

"I came didn't I? Summer, I don't know how to not miss you. It's pretty shitty that you're paying rent in my heart, so don't push it."

Once more her tears gathered and she put her head down. "You don't love me, grandpa. I remember you loving. You loved Unity and you pushed Morty and I away. For her. So you can't say that."

The older man sat next to his granddaughter. "I don't think you could understand. All the love I had in this world went to you. I can't do anything without wondering what you're doing. I can't stop worrying about you. Sometimes I have to remind myself that Rick's don't do love. Everytime you bring home an academic award. Everytime you finish my sentences about something intelligent. Everytime you tell a stupid joke and I laugh. I fill with pride, but I say to myself 'Ricks don't do love.' and it doesn't even work."

They remained in silence for some time. Summer thinking things over and Rick pitying himself.

"I hate this. Each and everyday, you scare me, Summer."

"I know. I'm reckless." Referring to running away and her cuts.

"That's not it."

"Why then?"

"Because I can tell you things I can't even tell myself."

Summer looked away. "I love my parents so much that I'll blame myself for their problems."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And that's the problem."

Rick smiled. "That a girl." And he did something that was more surprising than Summer realizing.

He hugged her. Because he loved her so much that he didn't want her to go.


They had propped Morty up in his room, fearing that if the boy spit up, he'd choke. Since the morning, he sat frozen and in shock, neither his parents or Rick understanding why.

A soft knock on his door didn't even break his stupor. Until whoever it was outside spoke. "Can I come in, Morty?"

Without a moment of hesitation, he stood, opening the door. For a while, she stared at him and he at her.

"Summer?"

"Yeah. Sorry I bailed. I had to find something really important."

"And did you find it?" He asked. "You won't- you're not leaving again?"

"I found it… so Nah..-oof." she was interrupted by Morty jumping on her.

Down the hall, Rick watched the scene unfold with a small smile. He was glad she'd decided to come back too. Maybe if she didn't, he wouldn't either.

Maybe if she didn't, Morty would still be frozen.

There were thousands of maybe. But there was one thing he knew.

If Summer didn't come back, he'd have died.


Later that night, Rick stayed busy in his garage beneath his space cruiser as Summer handed him tools and talked about school.

"And I was so angry that she kissed Janice's boyfriend and slept with him. I asked her why and she was like 'I only needed to get laid.'"

"Hand me the screwdriver." Rick snorted out.

The teen did so, but still continued. "And I was like 'the only way you'll get laid is by crawling up a chicken's ass and waiting.' which is super witty."

"What'd she say?"

"She tried talking, but I stopped her. I said 'save your breath. You'll need that to blow your next date.'"

Summer giggled at the end of her high school story, making Rick move from beneath his ride.

He'd meant what he said before on Thry. All the love he held in the world, he gave to her. The love he held for Beth when she was younger disappeared when he saw her again. So he gave it to Summer.

His love for his ex wife.

His love for science.

All of it. He gave it to Summer.

She was a jewel. She was like a diamond. Gleaming as bright as the sun's rays lighting the ocean at dawn; radiant and shining; reigning supreme amongst all jewels and gems, her perfect features scorning those of others. The diamond was, after all, the gem of royalty.

And that's what she was.

Summer turned her head in confusion. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing, but….I-I meant what I said, Summer. Every word. So don't go giving up on me, okay."

The girl's eyes filled with tears as her daymare filled her memory. Looking away, she nodded. "Whatever."

"It's not whatever, Summer. I'm serious. I need you to know that. I can't let you hurt yourself. I won't live with myself knowing I had the power to stop it. So it's not whatever. So promise me you won't try to hurt yourself again. Promise me you'll learn to love yourself as much as I love you.

I swore I wouldn't leave you once, Summer."

"Okay...okay. I get it."

"Promise me." He demanded after the silence.

Summer crouched beside him. Grabbing his hand, she interlocked her pinky finger with his own pale one. She looked at him. "I promise."

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. That took me so long to write because of writer's block. Uuggh. Anyway, please feel free to review. And thanks again.