AN: This is actually more of an epilogue than a real chapter 'cause it's really short. I still hope that you like it ^_^
Second Chances AKA The Rick One For Me – Chapter 8: The Rick that he belongs to
As his Morty stepped through the portal, Rick P-78 instantly knew that they hadn't just talked.
The scent of sex was still clinging to the boy.
Rick gritted his teeth, but chose not to comment on it.
After all, he was the one who had come up with the idea and sent Morty to see Rick Q-89. It was too late to regret that decision now.
If he hadn't wanted Morty to turn out this way, he should have shielded the boy from this whole thing from the moment on that they had seen this couple on the Citadel of Ricks.
Instead, he had indulged in the boy's curiosity and it ended up like this.
He had told himself that it was for the best, so he couldn't hold this against Morty now. The only one he had to blame for this was himself.
As things stood now, the boy would surely realize soon that Rick Q-89 was the better choice. The other didn't have a Morty of his own and those two were good for each other – better than P-78 was with the boy.
However, Rick couldn't help but really like this Morty. He had the feeling that they could become a lot closer with each other because of their pasts, which were so similar.
This was only a dream though.
It won't take long now before Morty will ask him to become Q-89's new Morty and Rick would have to start all over again. Man up and bring himself to request another Morty from the Reassignment Center or the Morty Academy again and then try to grow accustomed to having a different boy around who still looked like (and technically was) his grandson.
"Brought him back to you safe and sound, P-78." The other Rick proclaimed with a wide grin.
"Yeah, I—urp—I can see that." P-78 replied unenthusiastically.
He completely ignored the project that he had been working on without any progress in the hours that Morty was gone and turned completely around in his chair to face the duo. The only thing that he did successfully managed to do in the boy's absence was empty a few more bottles, yet he wasn't drunk to the point of it making him incapacitated. There was still a part inside of him that fought against losing control enough to potentially turn himself vulnerable – even if he knew that Morty would never abuse that situation and do anything to him. He really wanted to trust the boy and was convinced that he didn't have to be worried around him, but it would probably take a long time until every fiber of himself had come to accept that.
With how things might turn out now, it may never come to that though…
"Well, I will be off then. My Beth should be home soon." Q-89 excused himself and waved as he went back towards the still open portal. "See ya, P-78! Bye, Morty!"
"Um, tha-thanks again." P-78 shouted after him while his Morty waved at the retreating Rick.
After all, the other had been nice enough to answer to his and his Morty's request. Just because he didn't like the results, there was no reason for him to be angry at Q-89 now.
"Well, c'mon, Morty. I'm gonna start making dinner now. You-you can help." Rick proclaimed as he finally stood up.
"Um, R-Rick? C-can we talk? A-about wh-what happened a-at Q-89's?"
'Here it comes.' Rick thought grimly.
He had hoped that the boy would take at least a little bit longer before throwing this at him.
With a sigh, he replied. "Sure. If you-if you really want to get this off your chest."
Morty looked relieved even though he could clearly tell that his grandfather was upset.
"R-Rick Q-89 wa-was really n-nice t-to me, but we-we didn't o-only t-talk. I mean w-we d-did talk, but he—we a-also…um…d-did so-sum-something else…" The boy was blushing bright red as he tried to explain what had happened.
Rick had already figured out as much and didn't really need a detailed explanation, but he didn't stop his grandson as he continued.
"H-he was rea-really gen-gentle with m-me a-and so patient…"
'Please spare me the details and just get to the point!' Rick begged on the inside.
He really didn't want to hear the graphic description of what the other Rick had done with his boy. Besides, he already knew where Morty's little speech would end up.
"A-anyways, wha-what I just wa-wanted to say with thi-this is tha-that I-I-I really like R-Rick Q-89." The boy concluded.
P-78's posture visibly slouched, as he seemed to fall apart on the inside.
For a moment, he wondered if he should just stop the boy. If Morty wouldn't say those words, everything could continue to stay the way it was now and nothing would have to change between them.
Because he knew if the boy would ask about leaving him to be with Q-89, he wouldn't say no to him. Even if he did, there would always be a rift between them then that would never close again, no matter what they did.
Seeing how upset his Rick was, Morty added, "I-I-I feel b-ba-bad for him be-because he do-doesn't ha-have a M-Morty. I-It's so sad tha-that he's a-all alone…"
"Morty…" P-78 started, not being able to bear hearing this any longer.
However, the boy shook his head and continued. He needed to get this out!
"E-even though the o-only R-Rick I e-ever wa-want t-to be with i-is you! I-I-I want y-you to be m-my Rick, P-78!"
Rick was stunned. That wasn't what he had expected to hear. Not at all.
His mouth stood still gaping open as Morty went to him with a big smile.
The scientist tensed up as Morty got on his tiptoes and leaned towards his face. He expected the boy to try to kiss him and had no idea how he should react to that.
Surprise hit him when his grandson actually only gave him a peck on his cheek, placing it right on his scar.
Rick blinked and could only stare down at Morty who was smiling brightly at him.
Before he even thought his actions fully through, he embraced the boy and gave him a soft kiss on his forehead.
As the scientist continued to hold Morty, he noticed that his grandson's body was relaxed and not trembling.
It was a good sign and encouraged Rick to continue holding his boy.
They both felt content as they stood in the garage and just hugged each other.
While they did that, Morty thought back to the conversation that he had with Q-89 after their…"activities".
"You-you're a real nice R-Rick." Morty commented.
"Thank you, Morty." Rick laughed a little. "But you know, your Rick – P-78 is also a very nice Rick. Even if he doesn't always show it so openly."
The boy nodded. "I-I know."
"I'm not sure how much he has told you about his previous Morty, but after what had happened back then, he was in a really bad place."
Morty's curiosity was once again picked. "Ho-how did y-you meet him?"
"I was actually called by a Doctor Rick who informed me that they couldn't safe his eye. They gave me his coordinates so I could make him an offer for a prosthetic eye. Tha-that Citadel Clinic usually makes their own prosthetics, but for some small high-tech gadgets like this, they always call me up…"
Q-89 sighed a little as he recalled his first meeting with the one-eyed Rick.
Rick Q-89 walked through the portal after he input the coordinates that he received from the medical staff of the Citadel Hospital and ended up in a garage that looked not very much unlike his own at home.
"Hey. Hello. You must be Rick P-78. I'm Rick Q-89 and was sent from Doctor Rick B-2207." He greeted politely the man who was laying slumped over his workbench.
The other scientist mumbled something incoherent and weakly lifted his face off the hard surface.
Q-89 fought against making a grimace as he took in his opposite's appearance.
His head was wrapped in bandages, which covered the entire left side of his face. One singular, half-lidded eye stared unfocused in his direction and was completely bloodshot. Drool was trailing down his chapped lips and some of it also stained the front of the black turtleneck shirt and the equally black pants – at least Q-89 assumed (and hoped) that that was what it was as some spots of the material were darker and obviously wet.
"Wha-whaddaya wond?" P-78 slurred heavily.
It didn't take a genius to realize that this Rick was completely wasted.
"I was told that you're in need for a new eye so I came here to talk to you about that and make you an offer for a cybernetic prosthetic."
"Jus-jush leave me da fuck alone. I don wanna-wan a new eye, I jus wanna die…"
Q-89 sighed and smiled sadly. These drunken ramblings felt like a déjà vu. It wasn't so long ago that he was in the same place – drunk out of his mind and just wanting for it all to end.
Slowly he approached the other Rick whose head fell back on the top of his workbench again.
"You wanna tell me what happened?" he asked, knowing from experience that it did help a little talking about your problems.
P-78 didn't try to lift his head up again, but turned it so that he could fix his single eye on him. "Why shoulda tell ya? I dun ev'n know wh-who ya ar—"
"Oh, you want me to talk about myself first? Okay then."
Rick Q-89 began to tell his full story. Even if the subject about his Morty was a sore spot for him, he figured if he shared something this personal with the other, he might also be able to open up more to him. Although there was a chance that he was one of those disapproving Ricks and might end up kicking him out instead…
"Wow, thaz jush shick!" P-78 mumbled, as his counterpart was finished. "Fus-fucking Mortys ish jush grosh-URP-gross and w-wrong! Bu-but kil-killin dem is, -daz wha I did."
The one-eyed Rick emitted a miserable wail after he said that and hid his face in his arms.
Q-89 could absolutely relate to how the other felt right now – after all he had lost his own Morty – and from this Rick's upset behavior, he could easily tell that he didn't kill his grandson on purpose.
It took quite a bit of consoling and persuading before he could finally coax more details about what had happened out of the other. And after loosening his lips, P-78 had spilled absolutely everything including all his self-loathing and how much he blamed himself for what had happened.
While this revelation was quite shocking, Q-89 tried to not react too strongly to it. After all the other was pretty drunk right now and even the smallest things could trigger an unforeseen and most often violent reaction from a drunk Rick.
That's why he tried to keep his posture neutral even if it wasn't easy.
"Whaddaya-wha m I s'posed toddoo naw?"
"Well, first we should get you a new eye. And then you could…maybe…get a new Morty from the reassignment center." Q-89 said calmly.
"Gedda-gedda new M-Morty? Why wudda-wud I wanna get 'nother psy—liddle psycho?" the drunk Rick sounded offended at the suggestion.
Rick Q-89 sighed and smiled sadly. "Hey now, it's not like they all are like that. Some of them may have a thing against Ricks, but what yours did was really an exception."
While it was not completely unheard of that there were Mortys who turned on their Ricks and killed them, they were still pretty rare. And killing the entire family like P-78's Morty had done, was something completely out of the norm. He was sure that something like that certainly hadn't happened before. If anything, it were Ricks who ended up doing that sort of crazy shit…
"I can understand that you might not want to get a new one yet. Heck, I probably sound like a hypocrite to you because some other Rick had also told me to just get a new one and I still can't bring myself to do that. But you should at least give it a thought…" Q-89 admitted.
It wasn't like he couldn't understand the other – he understood him all too well actually – but he was sure that with his entire family gone, he would surely grow lonely and slowly insane.
He still had his Beth left at least even if that wasn't much considering how "well" their interactions with each other went. The Mortys who came to visit him where probably the only thing keeping him somewhat sane at this point.
"No, n-no, I dun wanna. N'ver." P-78 protested vehemently and lifted his head to shake it.
An action that he immediately regretted as he groaned in pain a moment later and then bent over to violently heave.
Q-89 looked around and grabbed a plastic bin that he brought over to the other who quickly took it and continued to retch into it. While P-78 vomited everything that he had inside his body into the container, Q-89 busied himself with looking around the garage, trying to figure out what this Rick's specialty was.
His interested was caught by some batteries, which looked like they were not normal batteries even if their outer appearance looked no different from the standard.
He stopped looking the little devices over after he noticed that it had gotten silent. Looked like the other was finally done.
P-78 was still hunched over and gasped for breath, but didn't look like he would throw up immediately again. However, he looked pretty pale and anything but healthy – not that he had looked any better before that.
"Feeling better?" Q-89 asked, as he walked over to him again.
P-78 wiped some vomit that still clung to his lower lip before he answered. "I still feel like sshit."
While he was obviously still slurring, he seemed to be on his way of slowly sobering up a little.
"Why-why the fuk you're here again?"
Q-89 was okay with the change of topic. This was what he had come for after all. So, he finally steered the conversation to talking about the prosthetic eye.
He wanted to clear up with P-78 what kind of features he wanted for it, offering some of the functions that would be possible. Q-89 even mentioned that he should feel lucky to have lost his eye because the one he would build for him would be so much better than his biological human eye could ever be.
He could add night vision and infrared vision to it. Also, a nice zooming function so he wouldn't have to rely on a gunsight for sniping or could go without a field glass when spying. Or, maybe a recording function with the option to later transfer the videos and snapshots on his computer.
Q-89 could make P-78's mobile phone obsolete if he so wanted. If there was anyone, who could fit a high-performance computer into such a little gadget it was him.
"If you want you could also play videogames with it. I can make it VR-ready, but you'd have to close your other eye or wear an eyepatch or something like that."
They talked about the possible features and what P-78 actually wanted for the rest of the evening…
"I've been visiting him a few times after that – officially to check on how the prosthetic was doing. He actually managed to pull himself together again, but it was obvious that he wasn't doing all that great. Loneliness can be very cruel, especially if you're stuck with no one else but your own thoughts, but every time he still insisted that he won't to get another Morty. So imagine my surprise when he finally decided to pick you up."
Q-89 looked down with a smile at Morty and noticed that the boy was hanging onto his every word.
"It was a really big step for P-78." Rick continued. "And he made so many preparations for your arrival. However, I know that you are good for him. And while it may not look like it to you, believe me when I tell you that he's trying really hard. For you. And for himself. For both of you."
"I-I-I get it." Morty said and then he giggled softly.
"What? What is it?" Rick asked back with a grin, wanting to be let in on the joke.
"You-you're not ju-just a-a-a very n-nice guy, but al-also a v-very good fr-friend."
The other also laughed a little now. "You think so? I wonder if he sees it like that, too."
"I'm s-sure he does."
Morty sighed a little as his thoughts returned to the present time, but he still refused to break up their peaceful and sweet moment. However, something else interrupted them not soon after.
It was Rick's mobile phone, which had suddenly began to ring.
Reluctantly and feeling disappointed, they let go of each other so that the scientist could answer the call.
As P-78 was busy talking, Morty wondered whom he was speaking to and what this was about.
So, as soon as Rick had hung up, he asked. "W-was it R-Rick Q-89?"
"No, it was another acquaintance of mine – Rick C-133 and he needs some backup." Rick explained, as he got ready to leave. "So, we're going to the Citadel of Ricks now to help him out."
AN: Did you see what I did there? For those of you who haven't read my other fanfiction "Mortyfied and Rickfused" or don't remember Rick and Morty C-133 from it: there will be a continuation! (obviously also including P-78 and A-22β6 now and maybe a few other characters…)
In fact, my muse has really big plans now, but before we can come to the main event, we need to make more preparations and backstory first. At any rate, I'm really excited about what's going to come and I hope you'll like it, too.
